The amazing four
by ladycarathis
Summary: An AU where Kageyama and Kuroko are childhood friends, but haven't met for years, since living so far away from each other. Once in High school, they decide to meet up and bring Hinata and Kagami with them. The four of them get along great right from the start and they eventually become somewhat inseparable. Everything seems to be just fine, until Kageyama notices something...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"One more!", the familiar voice shouted and you almost too happily complied to its request. The toss you sent flew high into the air, but not too high for the orange-haired middle blocker to actually hit it. In fact, you sent it with you typical pin-point-accuracy right into the palms of that demanding little boy with amazing jumping power and a stamina, that never seemed to get drained. You thought, if it weren't for the coach and the captain, that boy would be practising all night long, without ever getting tired. Actually, you could pretty darn well imagine him doing just that when he got home. Not, that you knew for certain, though. You had never been to Hinata Shouyous house and probably won't, ever.

"Oi! Bakageyama! Listen to me!", said boy claimed your attention again and effectively stopped you from spacing out on the court. "We are to clean up today!" Training was over, and the other members of your team already shuffled out of the gym, heading towards the club room to go and get changed. Cleaning was up to the first-years tonight, so only Hinata, Yamaguchi, Tsukishima and you remained, picking up all the stray balls and mopping the floor with huge swabs. Eventually, Yamaguchi and Tsukishima opted to carry away the posts of the net, and Hinata and you rolled up the net. Surprisingly, everything went smoothly, and not even that damned four-eyes gave any snide remarks, which you thought to actually be nice for a change of pace. You sighed, feeling tired, while you followed the other three into changing out of your smelly gym-clothes.

On your way home -you walked part of it with that orange-haired boy, as always- you found yourself enjoying his company. You had come to that silent understanding on walking home together pretty soon after you noticed that part of your ways towards your respective homes actually were the same. Not that you ever talked much, though. It was mostly Hinata, who rambled on an on about practice or his day in general, or even what his seemingly ridiculously funny little sister did the evening before. You only had to occasionally nod or hum in agreement. Hinata didn't ever expect you to say much, either. He seemed to understand that you would rather listen to his mindless babbling than talk yourself. It was weird, almost as if he could see right through you or even read your mind at times. You had to admit, sometimes it was downright scary, but mostly, it made it easier for you to communicate with him. You weren't very good with all that social-stuff and didn't know how to deal with people at different situations, but with Hinata around, it didn't seem to matter as much. Which is why you allowed him to be around you as much as he wanted. Well, on most occasions, anyway. At the usual crossroad you turned right without so much as a second thought, only waving a short good-bye over your shoulder. You could already hear Hinata pedalling his way up towards the hill. That chain on his bike really needed to be oiled! It squeaked so loud, you could hear him, even though he was almost fifty meters away already. On second thought though, it meant that he couldn't sneak up on you, not with his bike around, anyway.

Thinking about it, you couldn't stop a small, genuine smile creep up to your lips. Glad that nobody could see it and that you were alone on the street, you hastily forced it away, together with that damn blush that started burning on your cheeks. Why would you be wanting to be sneaked up upon by Hinata, by all means?! Irritated with yourself, you almost stomped the rest of your walk back home and cut off your mother quite briskly, when she asked if you were alright, since your face even now held quite a bit of redness from the blush earlier. Of course you were! Why wouldn't you be? Sure, you just had that weird thought about Hinata, but you were a sixteen year old teenage boy! You had every damn right in the world to act off sometimes! Maybe it was because it never really happened before today, which is why she asked now. Still brooding about what happened, at first you didn't notice your phone going off, ringing with a message from god-knows-who. You never gave your number to your team-mates, so it couldn't be them, and the folks from Kitagawa Daichi would never send you any, since they cut all ties they had with you, leaving you with actually only a handful of people to chat with now and then. Thinking about it, it probably was a text from your childhood friend, Tetsuya. Sighing, you put away your homework and started searching for your phone in your room. Finally obtaining the device, you unlocked it and scrolled to your emails.

"Hey Tobio! How have you been? I haven't heard from you, since you told me you were going to go to Karasuno for High School. You could have come to Seirin, too, you know? Our Volleyball team isn't as bad, it seems. You could have lived with me and my family, you know they like you.", it read. So it really was from Tetsu.

"Hey Tets! I'm fine, I guess. School is annoying as hell, but my new Team is really great. Most of them are quite skilled players, so I think we might be able to win the upcoming tournaments. Thanks, but you know my mother wouldn't have let me go. Even if it was to your place.", you replied.

And after that, messages were sent between the two of you within minutes of receiving a reply from the other, until you both had to go to sleep eventually. You had to admit, it felt great talking to Tetsuya again, even if it was just emailing each other. You told him about your team members and their antics -especially about Hinata- and Tetsuya would do the same. Apparently he got a pretty talented guy on his team, too, and was now striving for him to become on par with the other players of the generation of miracles. You never imagined there could be such a person, but it seemed like you were wrong with that. That being your train of thought you finally fell asleep, only to find a not-so-pleasant surprise when you woke up the next morning.

The glowing red neon letters on your alarm-clock showed it was half past nine. You should have been at school over two hours ago! Damn! Did you forget to set up your alarm? No, you were certain you checked it yesterday. But why didn't it ring, then? You squinted at the letters in front of you, as if you could actually bring them to tell you, but nothing happened. Of course not. Sighing, you contemplated whether to go to school despite being three hours late, or stay at home all day. Going meant to be scolded by the teachers and the coach for missing out on morning practice, staying at home meant having nothing to do all day long. Sure, you normally never missed practice if your weren't actually ill, but today you really couldn't find it in yourself to get up and get going. Slumping back into your pillows and pulling the blanket back up over your head you chose to doze off a few more hours.

Having spent the day lazing about the house -your mother was away working since early morning and wouldn't be back until late tonight -it was a Friday, after all- you were sure nothing out of the ordinary would happen, when you checked the clock in the kitchen for the time. Half past five. Practice would be over soon. You sighed. You should have gone to school, after all, you thought, as suddenly the doorbell rang.

Curious as to who it could be at this time of the day, you wandered off towards the entrance, slowly pulling the door open. Only to be greeted by that familiar mop of orange hair and a cheerful voice. "Kageyama! I'm here to bring you today's papers and homework!", Hinata announced with his usual bright smile and jumped up and down in front of you, impatiently waiting for you to let him inside. You sighed, stepped aside and mumbled: "Come in, then. But make it quick!" Not needing to be told twice, Hinata literally jumped inside, took his shoes off and waited for you to lead the way to wherever you were going to take him. First you thought about bringing him to the living room, but you quickly abandoned that idea, instead settling for your own room.

"Why are you so early, anyway? Practice doesn't end before six usually.", you wanted to know while climbing up the stairs. "Yeah well, I asked the coach if I could leave earlier, since I had to deliver your homework.", was Hinatas reply, to which you found yourself nodding. It made sense, after all. In your room, Hinata searched his bag for the papers he had to hand over to you, while he asked the question you knew he would ask as soon as you saw him standing in front of your door. "Why haven't you been to school today? You don't seem to be ill." "I ...kind of... overslept.", you managed to grit out between tightly clenched teeth. You didn't like admitting it, especially to Hinata, but you weren't going to lie, either. The surprised look you got from him almost made you laugh out loud. He looked so completely at a loss for words, it really amused you to no end. Knowing that you had managed to put the boy who never shut up to actually stay quiet for more than two seconds sure felt somewhat great. "What? You look like a fish. Shut your trap!", you scolded him with a whack of the flat side of your hand to his head, which seemed to bring him back to reality. "And here I was thinking I would never see the day!", Hinata teased while rubbing the back of his head where you had hit him. "Oi!", you reprimanded him, and he finally returned to searching for the papers he was supposed to give you. Having finally found them, he handed them over to you with a small smile and you found yourself nodding while you looked them over. Great. This shouldn't be too hard. You should be able to do these on your own. Some teachers even left a few notes on the papers for you, giving extra advice on the problems.

"Thanks.", is all you could manage to say, but Hinata just smiled at you widely. "It's fine, really. But don't oversleep on Monday, too! Practice was boring without you!", he declared, to which you found yourself nodding yet again. Like hell you would oversleep on two school days in a row! But just to be on the safe side you would go out to buy a new alarm-clock tomorrow. Just in case, since you really didn't know what was wrong with the current one. The batteries were charged, the time ticked away and it was set. It just didn't ring when it should. You had tried it out several times today and it never worked. "Okay, that's great then! You need help with these?", Hinata wanted to know, to which you found yourself shaking your head. "Don't think so. Besides, you should get going.", you tried to get him to leave already. You didn't know what to talk to him about, anyway, and you sure as hell didn't want an awkward silence to happen. Though, on second thought, this was Hinata! With this guy around, could such a thing even be possible in the first place? Not sure about this, but definitively not wanting to wait around until it happened, you almost shoved him out of your room, before he was even able to react and sent him stumbling down the stairs. While he was shouting at you for being so rude and all, you still managed to see that familiar spark in his eyes, which meant he wasn't really mad at you, but just fooling around. Just like you were, actually, though you were a lot better at hiding the fact that you were having fun just now. It was like this most of the time, when Hinata was around, but you would never admit it out loud. Besides, you didn't have to, anyways, since Hinata could read you just fine and knew how you felt. Which is why he probably didn't mind being shoved around by you but went along with it.

Finally alone again, you started to get the papers done, since you sure as hell did not want to do them on your weekend. They were pretty easy, even for you, who had problems in most of his classes, so it didn't take you long until you were finished and went to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

That new alarm-clock you had bought on Saturday did an excellent job at waking you up on time on Monday morning. You felt refreshed, after you had spent the whole weekend either practising volleyball or lazing around, emailing with Tetsuya. Both of you seemed to have adapted quite well into your High School-life, so you were thinking about meeting up sometime later this year, preferably after the Inter-High tournaments. Of course you hadn't decided on a definite date yet, but it was nice knowing you would actually see each other again after all those years. To be honest, you couldn't wait until then.

When you arrived at school, everyone could notice something was different about you. Even Hinata, that thick-headed blockhead, did. And he actually asked you, what was going on. You gave him a small half-smile -yes, a real smile, not one of those creepy grins you normally showed people- and said it was none of his business. "Oh, come on, Kageyama! Tell me! Why are you smiling like that? Tell me! Tell me!", he nagged you all the way to class, jumping every time. He seemed to be bouncing off the floor like a god damn rubber ball and you really started to get annoyed at him for being so curious. What was it to him, anyway? He hadn't concerned himself with these kind of things before, so why now? And why were you his target? "Come on! Did someone confess to you? Did you get a nice girlfriend?", Hinata questioned you for further information, but you remained adamant on not telling him and eventually, class started and you had your peace of mind until lunch came around. Then it was not only Hinata, but also Tanaka and Noya-san who started pestering you. They even went so far as to tell the captain and Sugawara about it. When practice came around, the whole team knew about you being a little off and nagged you until you were so close to actually yell at them -even at the captain- who urged you to just spill the beans, since otherwise they wouldn't be able to get any practice done today. You sighed and shortly filled them in about your friend living back in Tokyo. "I don't believe it. The king of the court actually has someone he considers a friend.", Tsukishima chuckled at your story, to which you responded with your usual intimidating glare. "Yes, I have. So are we done now and can go back to practise?", you scowled at the whole team and they readily complied, not wanting to make you any angrier than you already were.

"You really must be happy to meet that guy you talked about earlier." Hinata's voice brought you back to reality. How did he manage to always catch exactly that moment when you were deep in thought so perfectly, almost making you stutter in your desperate attempt not to appear too startled. Unfortunately, you didn't manage it well, this time. Why would he be concerned with Testuya? It wasn't like you were seeing him any time soon, and even then it wouldn't change anything between him and you. Though you never had said it out loud, you also considered Hinata your friend. Yes, loud, obnoxious, annoying Hinata was your friend. You were still surprised at that thought, though. When it first appeared to you, you were so out of line, you didn't even manage to perform your usual tosses. Luckily you were able to brush it off for feeling not very well that day, so nobody suspected a thing, and since you didn't change your attitude towards him, everything stayed as it always had been. You called him dumbass Hinata every time he did something wrong or was being a pain in the neck, you shot him angry glares and creepy grins, and he would all but smile happily and jump all over the place, content to get at least some reaction from you at all. Well, it was better than outright ignoring him, you had found out. That way, he would sooner or later start clinging to you, hanging off your shoulders and talking right into your ears. Not funny. Noticing that you probably had let him wait too long for your answer -he had just started fidgeting impatiently- you let out a sigh and decided to just answer his questions. Maybe that would shut him up. "Yes, I am.", short, sharp as always. "Is he a nice guy? When have you last seen him? Does he like volleyball as much as we do?", Hinata bombarded you with more questions. "Yes, he is. Before we went to middle school. No, he plays basket ball." You could see Hinata wasn't completely pleased with your answers. You knew why, though, since you thought the exact same thing. How could someone not love volleyball? It was something neither you nor Hinata could understand, but you never questioned Tetsuya about it. You just accepted that he liked to play basket ball more than anything else. It didn't stop you from being friends. "When will you meet him? Can I come with you? I want to meet him, too! I want to see the guy who is friends with the king!" "Tche!", you clicked your tongue. As if you'd let that happen! "No way in hell, Hinata!", you scowled at him. He seemed to be taken aback a little, but he hesitated for only a second, until he was talking again. "But why? Why not? Come on, Kageyama!", he urged you to tell him. "Because I don't want to have you following me around like a god damn puppy everywhere I go!", you snapped, noticing too late, what you just said. Hinata stiffened next to you. You immediately wanted to take those words back, but you didn't know, how. You had never been good at apologizing, so you could just watch that orange-haired boy giving you an empty look, before he got on his bike and rode off without another word. Great. Now you'd done it! You facepalmed yourself as soon as you were sure Hinata was out of sight. With a heavy sigh you started to walk again. Tomorrow was going to be hell, and you didn't even mean what you had said! -What actually made it worse, when you thought about it.

Hinata didn't talk to you all day. Not even at practise. You trained your quick sets and he never missed, but he did never so much as shot you a look when he wanted another toss. Thinking, that maybe complying to his wishes would make him somewhat more agreeable to you again, you did everything he wanted and hoped, it would be enough and that he'd maybe understand that this was your way of saying sorry, since you just weren't able to say it out loud. At least not with the whole team -and especially Tsukishima- around, listening to you. He would never let you live it down. So you had to wait until you were alone with him, though you were pretty sure Hinata wouldn't wait for you after practise to walk home together.

"Hey, Kageyama, can I have moment?", you heard Suga-san ask you, just when you were about to leave the changing room to head home. "Uhm, sure?", you hesitated, giving him a questioning look. What could he possibly want from you? "Great. Care to walk with me?" You just nodded in agreement, having no reason to oppose to this offer. And just a few minutes later you were walking down the street with your older team mate. You hadn't forgotten about Hinata, but he had been nowhere in sight when you left the school, so you where pretty sure he had left on his own. "Did you have a fight with Hinata?", Sugawara came right to the point. "Not... exactly.", you sighed and opted to better just spill it already. It was obvious that something was off with you two. You weren't bickering and screaming at each other today, at all. So of course something had to be up and the others had to notice it. Most of all, perceptive Suga-san. He always sensed the different moods the club members were in. "I guess... I said something mean to him. I know, I should apologize.", you ended your short summary on what had happened yesterday on your walk home. "It's just... I don't know, how." Sighing, you stared forward, down the road you were walking. "Well, it's good you know you did something wrong.", Suga pondered about it, nodding slowly while doing so. "Shouyou is a simple guy. Just say sorry and he will forgive you. It will be alright.", he finally gave you his advice. "And you should do it soon, before things get any weirder than they already are. We can't have our oddball duo to be out of it in the upcoming trainings-match against Nekoma." "I know. It's just... easier said than done.", you grumbled quietly, but he heard you anyway and smiled at you comfortingly. "It will be alright. Now, go home and get some rest. Good night, Kageyama.", he bid you farewell. You quickly bowed to him: "Thanks for the advice, Suga-Senpai! Good night!"

At home you were still brooding over the advice you had gotten, knowing that it was best to just get over with it. But that didn't make things any easier. Luckily, when you checked your mobile, you saw a new email from Tetsuya.

"Guess what, Tobio! Seirin's going to play a trainings-match against some school that's supposed to be pretty close to yours! I think it's Aoba Johsei or something like that. We're having a trainings-camp in the area and will play against them one of those days. We could meet up then, you know? Since there won't be another chance before Inter-High is over. What do you say? Sounds good?"

Reading the message, you couldn't stop a wide grin from spreading across your face. If that didn't sound good, then what could, possibly?

"That's cool, Tetsu! When is the trainings-camp set? I need to know so I can make time.", you eagerly replied. Even the fact of possibly running into Oikawa didn't lower your spirits. You were going to meet Tetsuya, you couldn't care less about that irking genius setter with his bad personality!

"It's pretty soon. In two weeks, actually. We will stay from Wednesday to Sunday, I think. At least that's, what coach Riko said. Say, Tobio, would you be okay if Kagami tags along? He wants to meet you. Oh, and you could bring Hinata, too."

Well now, this was just great, you thought and groaned in dismay. Because, as much as you wanted to meet your childhood friend, you didn't want to share him with other people on your first meeting after not seeing each other for years. Though you were never able to say no to anything Tetsuya wanted from you. Maybe because he was the only one you considered your friend before you met Hinata and the other members of the Karasuno volleyball club, but that didn't matter right now. Sighing, you went on typing your answer:

"I guess it would be fine. But I'm not sure Hinata is going to come. We had a little misunderstanding yesterday and now he doesn't talk to me. I'm the one at fault, though, so he is right in not talking to me. But that doesn't make apologizing any easier for me! Any advice you could give?"

Tetsuya took some time in replying to you, so you began to feel impatient and tapped your fingers nervously against your leg while you waited. When your mobile finally gave it's chime, you hastily scanned the message.

"That's bad luck, then. I wanted to meet him, too. He seemed to be a pretty nice guy from what you told before. I'm sure he isn't one to bear a grudge, Tobio. Just apologize to him and it'll be fine. Tell me how it went tomorrow!", was, what it read.

"Sure will.", you quickly replied before throwing the device on your bed and muttering some curses under your breath. Now you really had to apologize tomorrow! Well, maybe it was better this way, with no possibility to sneak your way around it, you had to face the problem head-on. It's not like you could avoid Hinata anyways, since you had not only classes, but also practise together. And if you really tried it, Suga and captain Sawamura would sure as hell give you a piece of their minds about that matter. Better to just get over with it when you still could, right? Before the captain started to get seriously angry at you. You tried to not think about it too much, since you still had to do your homework and really couldn't effort to be distracted by something so trivial. But while you were thinking this, another thought popped up in your mind, telling you, that nothing which concerned Hinata, was trivial. Hinata was important to you! After all, he was the first friend you had made since forever, who wasn't too intimidated by your angry moods and who could keep up with you. He even aimed on surpassing you, but you wouldn't let that happen any time soon, if ever. Not that you would tell him, though. He would just start pestering you again and you didn't want that.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next morning on your way to school you suddenly heard the familiar squeaking of an unoiled bicycle chain and knew immediately who it was, that was racing after you. For a moment you seriously considered breaking into a run to school, but then your conversations with Tetsuya and Suga-san came back into your mind. You would have to face him today, eventually, and this time was as good as any other, as long as it was before practice. So you stopped in your tracks, waiting for the orange-haired boy to catch up to you. To no surprise, a few seconds later he pulled the brakes of his bike and came to a stop next to you. Curious, but careful, you turned your head to see what kind of an expression Hinata was making at the moment, and you were surprised when you found it to be quite the serious one. "Listen, Kageyama-", he began, but you cut him of, not wanting to hear what he was going to say. And besides, you wanted to get over that damn apologizing-thing as fast as you possibly could. "No, I wont. You listen, dumb-", just in time you choke back the usual insult you addressed him with and covered with an miserable excuse of a cough. Hinata, though maybe a little surprised himself, kept silent, obviously intending to wait for what you were going to say. You took a deep breath to calm yourself down -to no avail, actually- and started talking again. "Listen, Hinata. I... I'm...", another deep breath and an insecure look, which you sneaked at the redhead, later, you shoved your hands into the pockets of your trousers, before starting to walk at a slow pace again. "Yes?", was all, your companion asked to urge you on. You sighed, knowing there was no way around it. Not anymore. "Hinata... I'm sorry. For what I said the other day. I shouldn't have. But I was annoyed and I couldn't control myself. I'm sorry, really. I didn't mean it." Finally having said what you had to -you didn't ask for his forgiveness, though- you slowly turned your head to look at the boy.

But he didn't look like you thought he would. Honestly, you'd expected him to give you his big, goofy smile and say everything was fine, waving everything off, but he didn't. In fact, Hinata still looked pretty serious. He didn't face you, though. "I know, and I appreciate your apology, Kageyama. But this is not, what I wanted to talk to you about.", he eventually pointed out, trying a smile. It didn't look like his usual ones. It was an empty smile, one you had never seen him showing before. Hinata always was this energetic, happy, smiling creature that almost never got bothered by what other people said or did. Alarmed, you stopped again, looking at him concerned. "What is it, Hinata? You look rather shaken.", you calmly inquired. Now that this damn apology was out of your system, you could actually pay attention to your partner. Only to see that he really desperately tried to hold himself together. You noticed his shaking hands, which held on to the handle bar of his bike, the way he bit his lower lip in distress. "Hinata, what happened?", you asked again, surprised at your own voice, which actually sounded caring and comforting. You didn't know you were capable of such a way of speaking. Well, you had never needed it before, so it might as well be because of that. The redhead, clearly shaken up by your words, shuddered, before he gave you a devastated look. "It's Natsu.", you saw him clenching his teeth tightly, his fists forming a firm grip around the handle bar of his bike, knuckles all white and showing. Not sure, what to make of that information, you just looked at him questioningly. Well, it was obvious something was up with his sister, but you couldn't quite put your finger on what it might have been. Just a few seconds later -you didn't urge him to hurry up telling you- he revealed the reason for him being so out of it. "Her and my mother had an accident on their way back from elementary school. My mom is just fine, really. Only a few scrapes and bruises, nothing serious. But Natsu, she... she won't wake up!", Hinata needed a moment to get himself together, before speaking again, "Natsu was hit by that car dead-on." Only whispering the words, you almost didn't understand what he was saying, but you got the gist of it, at least. His little sister had been in an accident, and from what you could tell, it didn't look too good for her. Unsure on how to comfort people who were in such a situation -you had never been into a similar one you could refer to, now- you reached out, putting your hand on his shoulder, squeezing it firmly. And that's when Hinata fell apart, losing his grip on his composure. Tears welled in his eyes, he shivered violently and then, in a flurry of orange and the sound of a tipping bike, he clung to you, holding fast to your Gakuran for dear life and crying unashamed now.

Unsure of what to do now, you jerked your hands up, just to stop them before you would actually touch the boy. You really were insecure about all this being comforting stuff, and you knew you'd feel a little -if not a little more- awkward if you actually hugged Hinata now. So you settled one hand on his shoulder again, while you lightly patted his head with the other. "Oi.", you muttered -shoving the registration that his hair was really soft and somehow smelled like oranges to the very back of your mind- and tried to get him to listen to you. "She'll be fine. Right now it may be hard on you, but you have to hang in there, okay? I don't know what exactly happened, but I am sure your sister needs her brother once she wakes up. So you need to stay strong for her sake, got it?"It wasn't your best pep-talk, but you hoped it got the message across. And, sure enough, though still crying and hiccuping, the redhead nodded. However, he didn't let go of you yet and instead buried his head in the crook of your neck, slinging his arms around your middle. "Oi, Hinata!", you squirmed a little but gave up soon enough when you realised he wouldn't let go of you any time soon, deciding that it may be better to just go on petting his head and try to get him to calm down.

When he finally did calm down enough and was only just sniffling and rubbing his nose, you thought of something. "Done crying? Great, then give me your mobile!", you ordered him around as you usually would, but you spared out the usual sharp ring of your words. The boy looked at you quite bewildered, but obeyed nonetheless. Having the device in your hands, you saved you own number to his contacts and gave yourself a call, so you'd have Hinata's. "That should do it.", you nodded approvingly, while you handed back the mobile. "Do what?", the redhead wanted to know. "Idiot. I just gave you my number! If anything happens and you need someone to talk to, just call me, okay?", you grumbled, actually feeling a little embarrassed. Hinata, though still obviously confused by your behaviour, nodded, and you could see an actual smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. It may have been small and only lasted for a mere two seconds, but it was there. "So, feeling better now? If so, we should get going. We'll be late already!" You didn't wait for his answer and instead fell into a jog aimed for the school, which still was a few blocks away. Hinata, surprised at your sudden take-off, scrambled his bike up and caught up with you moments after, keeping pace with your tempo.

At school both of you got scolded by coach Ukai, since you were almost half an hour late for morning practise, but it didn't really bother you. After all, you'd had more important things on your mind than volleyball, even if the sport was what you considered most meaningful to you, you still couldn't help but think that Hinata was also very important. He was the only one on the team who could pull off that quick attack, and he was the who always challenged you, pushing both of you to your limits in order to improve your skills. Honestly, how could you not think of him as someone important? However, today everyone could see something was off with him. He was talking to you again -even if he said almost little to nothing- but the fact that he didn't even hit one of your tosses, couldn't be missed by anyone.

After practise, both Suga and the Captain came up to you, clearly wanting answers. "I see you are talking again. But this is worse than yesterday. What happened, Kageyama?", Suga questioned you, while Daichi looked as if he was desperately trying to hold in his anger at you. You were not the one at fault, though, and you were about to tell them just that, when Hinata spoke up. He must have heard what Suga had said just now and came walking up to you. "I'm sorry, Suga-san. This is not Kageyamas fault. He apologized this morning." You could see he was trying to act calm and composed, but you noticed his shaking hands, and so did Suga. The grayhaired boy gave him an inquiring look, and you sighed. "Just tell them. It's not like they won't understand or will be mad at you for not telling earlier, idiot.", you nudged him gently into his side, which actually seemed to work. The redhead took a deep breath of air, balled his hands into fists and mumbled his answer, obviously trying not to cry again. He'd been happy enough when, before practise started, you said that his eyes didn't look puffy and red from crying, surely he didn't want to change that now. "My sister had an accident and has been hospitalized yesterday. She... she won't wake up. The doctors say, there's no telling when she might wake up or what her condition might be, then." The looks on both your Senpai's faces fell immediately, and you could tell they were concerned, for Hinata's and his sister's well-being. "We're sorry, Hinata. We didn't know, and we won't blame you, then. After all, everyone would be out of it, when something like this happens to their family. It's okay. You don't need to come to practise in the afternoon, if you don't feel like it. I will talk to coach about it. I'm sure he'll understand, too.", Sugawara expressed his thoughts to the redhead, which you could see nodding ever so slightly, with tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. He blinked furiously, trying to make them go away, before anyone would notice -you did, though. "Thank you, Suga-San, Daichi-San.", he choked out and went off to get changed. You stayed behind, held back by Sugawaras hand on your shoulder.

"You knew, didn't you?", he wanted to know, looking at you quite serious. You confirmed his suspicion with a small nod -what was there for you to say, anyway? It wasn't your business to begin with, and you wouldn't go around telling other peoples matters to just anyone. That would have been inappropriate. It was Hinatas choice, whom he told what he had told you in the morning, not yours. But you were glad he actually did tell them. So you weren't the only one to know about it, you weren't going to be the only one who'd have to have an eye out for him. "Yeah, he told me before practise. That's why we were late.", you decided to inform them, since you could at least say this much, right? Both of them nodded, understanding. "Good. Try to keep him company and get his mind off of it. At least, a little bit. It's not good for him to worry so much. I'm sure his sister will be fine.", Daichi-San advised you, and you chose to do just that, finally jogging off to go and get changed as well, after you agreed to him with a short nod.

The day went by without anything out of the usual -mostly. You noticed Hinata was staring off into space in most of your classes, and once even the teacher scolded him for it. Which actually got the whole class chuckling under their breath, well, everyone except for you. You just gave him a reassuring look -at least you tried to- while the redhead gave a small, nervous laugh, to brush it off. Just a few minutes later, he was spacing out again and you were pretty sure, the teacher noticed, too. But this time, she didn't say anything about it and let him be. She must have sensed something was up with him, which was why he wasn't even trying to pay attention to her class. And sure enough, after class, she called him over to talked to him, and as much as you wanted to accompany him, you knew you should leave him alone to talk to the teacher. You could wait for him outside in the corridor. It didn't take long for him to come out of the room, eyes darting around everywhere until they settled on you and he quickly made his way to your side. Not waiting for him to say anything, and not wanting to say something yourself, you just started walking, Hinata following just half a step behind you. To your surprise, he didn't say anything, either. You knew, there wasn't anything to say, but it still felt weird to be accompanied by this silent Hinata. Maybe, because it had never happened before, but it actually gave you the creeps, to just have him quietly following you. He was almost like a ghost, an eerie spirit, even, nothing like his usual bright and cheery self. Even that familiar sparkle in his eyes was lost and you were sure it would return only when his sisters condition would change for the better.

"Are you coming to training later?", you finally broke the silence, trying to act casual, "You know we could try practising that new attack we wanted to try?" Slowly you came to a halt and turned to watch your partner, only to notice that he hadn't even listened to you, walking right past you as if you weren't even there in the first place. "Oi, Hinata!", you growled and yanked him back by his collar, which startled him and got him out of his stupor, back into reality. "What?!", he snapped at you. That caught you by surprise, and for a second, you could do nothing but stare at him, flabbergasted. When you finally snapped out of it, the redhead was no longer scowling at you but looked at you rather apologetically, which let you to let out a small sigh. "I know you have your sister on your mind, but could you at least try paying attention to the people around you?", you offered. Hinata shoved his hands into the pockets of his trousers, mumbling a small "Sorry, Kageyama." He looked at you from under his lashes and you gave him a wave of your hand, meaning to say it was okay. After all, you could understand him. You would be out of it, too, when something happened to your family. "It's okay. So, are you coming to training later, or not?", you repeated your question from earlier.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Of course, you knew his answer, before he even opened his mouth. That didn't mean you wouldn't have asked, though, since you wanted to hear him say it. "No, I'm going to the hospital. I need to see how she is doing." Sure enough, you had seen this coming. It was no joking matter, but you couldn't help but chuckle inwardly at the thought that Hinata, who loved volleyball more than anything and would never -under normal circumstances, anyways- let a chance to train and hone his skills slip. You didn't let your thoughts show, though. After all, you were pretty sure, if he knew, the redhead would be rather annoyed with you. Because even if he was a smiling, cheering ball of happiness most times, it didn't mean he wasn't able to have other feelings, too. He actually was the same as you, just the other way around, which probably was why you complemented each other on the court and, well... outside of it. You couldn't deny that fact, even if you wanted to. It was too obvious to go by unnoticed. "Okay. Mind, if I tag along?", the question was out, before you were able to actually think this thought through, and you looked at the smaller boy in a mixture of surprise, embarrassment and concern. Which seemed to be quite the amusing sight, as it had a small smile tugging at Hinatas lips. "I guess it's fine.", he readily agreed, but you hardly noticed it, as you found yourself busy with the task of justifying the offer of tagging along for yourself. Daichi had asked you to keep him company, and you were sure he wouldn't be too angry at you, if you did just that and missed practice because of it. Besides, you didn't want him to be alone with his comatose sister. Who knew what weird thoughts his mind would make up if he were left to be alone with her for hours! And you certainly couldn't let that happen, now could you?

At the hospital you followed Hinata to a room inside the intensive care area. While the redhead was greeted with sympathetic looks, you were eyed suspiciously. As if you were some evil guy who intended to murder each and everyone who came too close to you. But you tried to act like you didn't care, or at least you tried to act as if you didn't notice the glares thrown in your direction. Under normal circumstances you would have shouted at the people to mind their own business, but seeing as you were inside a hospital, with lots of sick people who needed rest, you couldn't possibly do that. Hinata however, seemed to feel your discomfort and tried to engage you into a conversation, though with little success. But nonetheless you appreciated his attempt. He was trying, after all. "It's okay. You don't have to take care of me, dumbass. Save the sweet-talk for your sister, will you?", you managed to mutter, which actually got Hinata chuckling, right when he pushed open the door to the room his sister stayed at. The room had bare, white walls, a big window, which let plenty of sunlight inside and you could hear the continuing beeping of the medical devices that were attached to the small girls body.

Hinata Natsu was the spitting image of her older brother, as far as you could see. The same, flaming orange hair that stood up in every possible way, the same facial features, and you were pretty sure, as soon as she would open her eyes you would be greeted by the same gold-brown orbs as Hinatas. The only differences were, of course, the little girl was obviously smaller and lying limb and unmoving inside that big hospital bed, not in the least disturbed by Hinatas chuckles. But you didn't expect her to be, anyways. Comatose patients never moved and never seemed to notice anything that happened around them. Though it was said that most of them actually could hear what was said around them, they just couldn't make contact with the people around. You had heard people saying that talking to a comatose could actually help to get them out of the coma, but you weren't so sure about that, since you had never seen it happen before. Of course, that didn't mean it couldn't happen... "Hey, Natsu! Guess what? I brought company today! Wanna know, who?", Hinatas cheerful voice wrenched you out of your thoughts and back into the reality of the hospital room. Of course, Natsu wasn't able to answer, so Hinata made only a little pause for dramatizing the matter and then burst out: "It's Kageyama! You know? The Setter of my Volleyball team I told you so much about? Remember you wanted to meet him, so he could teach you how to toss?" He went on, without so much as taking a breath, and when he finally shut up, you managed to mumble a quiet "Hello, Natsu, it's nice to meet you.", before Hinata went on talking, while he sat down on the edge of the bed, taking his sisters hand into his own. You weren't so sure about what to do with yourself, examining the dull surroundings and listening to Hinatas constant chatter with only half an ear, as the door opened again and a woman walked in.

She was tall, had a slender figure, wavy brown hair and the same gold-brown eyes as Hinata, and when she smiled, she would show the same goofy smile Hinata always showed, you were certain of that. But the woman didn't smile, in fact, she was far from it, looking at the two boys with an imploring look in her eyes. "Mom!", Hinata greeted her, as soon as he noticed the woman and scooted off the bed to give her a small hug. Now, that you had the confirmation you had needed, you bowed politely to the woman. "Pardon my intrusion, Hinata-san. I'm Kageyama Tobio, a friend of ...", at Hinata's name you stumbled over your words. At school, you called the redhead 'Hinata', but now, you weren't so sure if that was okay, since you just introduced yourself as his friend. So, should you eventually start to call Hinata by his given name instead? Could you do that? Since you were obviously at a loss of words, said boy decided to help you out with a whispered: "Hinata's just fine, no need to change it." Relieved, you continued "... A friend of Hinata. It's nice to meet you." A small smile made its way to the womans features, as she replied your greeting. "It's nice to meet you, too, Kageyama-kun." She gave her son a pat on is unruly hair and walked over to the bed, where her youngest lay, detached from the world around her, while you retreated to the far end of the room, trying to give the three of them some family-time. Really, you would have excused yourself and were so close to just sneak away into the hallway, but you had the hunch that Hinatas mother would most certainly notice it. She seemed to be rather sharp -at least you thought she looked like she could give one quite the slating, if she was given a proper reason, much like your own mother could.

To your surprise, the remaining evening at the hospital passed by peacefully, Hinata and his mother talking to Natsu as if she was awake, while you enjoyed quietly listening to what they had to tell her. Occasionally Hinata had you to agree to his stories with a nod or any other sort of confirmation, but it didn't bother you. When time came for you to leave, his mother insisted she take you home, seeing as it was quite the walk from the hospital to your place and she didn't want you to be home too late. Of course, you didn't want to impose on her, and much less wanted to be a bother, but she insisted, and when Hinata chimed in, you couldn't resist any longer. Which is why, ultimately, you found yourself in the back seat of their car, giving directions to the woman driving it, while Hinata sat in the passenger seat next to her. He wasn't talking, and you actually thought he'd passed out as soon as he got into the car, but when his mother pulled up at the driveway of your home, he jerked his head around, to give you a small, albeit tired, smile. "Thanks for coming along, Kageyama.", he thanked you, to which you replied with a short nod. "It's fine, really. Thank you for taking me, Hinata-san.", you bowed to the brown haired woman, after you got out of the car. She only nodded in approval and manoeuvred the car back onto the street and out of your sight.

Later, when your mother finally stopped fussing about the fact that you didn't come home after school and instead went to the hospital with a friend of yours without telling her, you found yourself back in the security of your room. The calming blue tones that were provided by the bedsheets and the rug to the otherwise white and quite bare room managed to let your mind relax itself a little, before you grabbed you mobile and typed a text for Tetsuya. You weren't quite sure how much you would tell him, but once you started typing, it all flowed out in one long, messed rumble of thoughts and half sentences, and you didn't bother to reread the text before you sent it on its way. You knew there were more than a few misspellings, but you were sure Tetsuya would figure them out anyways -he was smart, after all. And sure enough, a few minutes later the device started chiming and you scooted it up from the place next to your bed, where you dropped it. Only to look surprised at the name of the sender. It wasn't Tetsuya, who had sent his reply, but Hinata. You should have figured he would be bombarding you with messages and pictures, as soon as he had the opportunity to do so and groaned inwardly at the thought of what you got yourself into. Though that didn't stop you from opening the text to see what he wanted. After all, you had said he should give you a call when he needed someone to talk, hadn't you?

"Kageyama, thanks again for today. You know... all of it. You being there for me really helped me get it together. I still feel like I'm a mess, and I don't think I can fix myself before Natsu wakes up again, but I want to try. And I think that maybe with your help, I could manage, somehow. I know I'm being ridiculous and you'd most likely hit me if you could, but I wanted to tell you, anyways. I know I'm rambling and you probably are annoyed and won't answer, but that's just fine, really. I just wanted to tell you, I guess. Thanks again, Kageyama."

Well, you honestly could say you didn't think Hinata would -or even could- come up with a text like this. He was far too simple-minded, at least, that is, what you thought until now. Though apparently, there was more to him than just his usual cheerfulness and thoughtlessness and you should give him credit for that, but of course you wouldn't actually say it. It would be your little secret. You smiled quite fondly at the received message on your phone and were just about to type out a reply, when the alert went off again, telling you of another arriving message. This time, it was from Tetsu, telling you that you in fact made the right decision in accompanying Hinata and offering him your help. He also seemed pleased with the fact that you apologized first thing in the morning, though you weren't able to confirm his idea of meeting up when his trainings-camp came around. Even if he didn't say it, you actually could picture him having that slightly disappointed look he always gave you, when you declined his repeating questions of you playing basketball with him. You were sure he was sporting that expression right now, even if you couldn't see him. Quickly, you typed out your answer and went back on concentrating on what to answer to that dumbass redhead.

"Dumbass. I already said it's fine, so stop bothering, will you? Though you better not start letting it become a routine of clinging to me crying. That was gross. Your sister will be fine, though. She'll wake up when she's ready to. The doctors said she was fine, except for the bruises, that is. And you're right, I would hit you right now, if I could. You're lucky you're on the other side of that mountain, idiot!"

You found yourself pressing the 'send'-button quite harshly, while you scowled at the screen of your mobile, daring it to ring yet again with another text from either Tetsuya or Hinata, for that matter. You were tired, and Hinatas text got you remembering the events of this morning. He had hugged you. He had hugged you and cried his heart out on your shoulder. He had been a tear-stained, sniffling mess that clung to you for almost half an hour because he wasn't able to calm himself down. Thinking about that, a small blush made its way to your cheeks and ears, and you were happy that you were actually lying on your bed and not anywhere else in your room, which gave you the freedom of grabbing your pillow and putting it over your crimson-red face to muffle the displeased groan, that escaped your mouth. Why? Why the hell were you blushing at the thought of Hinata hugging and relying on you? Why did you find yourself thinking about him every so often these days? Normally, the only thing on your mind was volleyball and you wanted it to be that way again, but you had absolutely no idea how to ban that cheery ball of sunshine and happiness from your thoughts. With another groan you got up again, tossing the pillow aside and trudging back downstairs to the living room, were your mother sat, watching TV.

Or, well, the TV was running, but your mother fell asleep on the couch while she was watching. Noting that she must've had an exhausting day at work, you switched off the TV, placed a blanket over her and turned the light in the room off. Your father wouldn't be home for another few days because of a business-trip, so you needn't bother waking her to send her to bed. Moving on to the kitchen, you grabbed a milk-box from the fridge and made your way to the small room down the hall, where your mothers piano was put when you first moved into this house. She didn't play often, but she had taught you well enough for you to be able to play more than just a few melodies. Seating yourself, you put your drink down and put your fingers on the keys. Playing the piano had always helped you sort out your thoughts and you hoped it would do, this time, too.

* * *

Notes:

First of all, I'm sorry it took me so long to update, but I was visiting my family to help my sister move out, and I have some planning left to do for my birthday, which is coming up next week. I'm not entirely sure I will manage to get another chapter done before all this is over, but I hope so.

Second, I did not reread the chapter for mistakes or misspellings or anything at all, since I am way too tired right now. If you find something, please let me know so I can change it! :)

Also, feel free to review, criticize and everything else, really. I honestly would appreciate it!

Oh, and yes, in my mind, Kags actually is not only a volleyball-prodigy, but also a brilliant pianist. Not one for the big stages, but still quite skilled :)

Anyone want to know what I imagined him playing at the end? It's 'Sunrise' by Brian Crain :3


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

You played quietly, your fingers barely brushing the keys, since you didn't want to wake your mother from her slumber. The calm, sweet melody came to your mind on its own, while you let your thoughts wander. You didn't know what to make of it, what to make of your thoughts constantly revolving around Hinata, how that happened and why you couldn't change that. At times you were overly conscious of him, and it bothered you to no end, and other times he was so annoying, you wished you would've never met him so you could live a calm, peaceful life. After almost two hours, when you still weren't able to sort yourself out, you gave up on it. The last sounds of the melody you had played echoed through the room, before your fingers left the black and white keys of the piano and you decided to go back to your own room. Surely, Tetsuya would have sent you another message by now, and Hinata too -eventually.

"I'm not gross, Bakageyama! And I don't plan on making it a habit! It was an emergency! An emergency! I would have never done that, were it not! Bakageyama!"

There was no new mail from Tetsu, but that one from Hinata, which he had sent shortly after you had sent yours. With a glance to your alarm-clock you wondered if it was okay to send him another reply, but figured he was probably already sleeping. It was almost midnight, and he had to get up early, hadn't he? Sighing, you put the mobile on your nightstand and made yourself ready for bed.

You were woken in the middle of the night by your ringing mobile, and you honestly contemplated if you should just throw that damn thing out of the window and go back to sleep, but it went on and on and eventually you gave up on ignoring it. "This better be important or I'll have your head tomorrow!", you grumbled to the person making the call. You hadn't bothered looking at the name of the one calling, when you answered it. There was only one person in the whole world who could be calling you at this ungodly hour of the night. "I'm sorry.", you heard Hinatas groggy voice. "Do you have any idea what time it is, dumbass?", you still sounded disgruntled, while you asked that question, rolled over on your back and adjusted the mobile to your ear. "Half past two?", came the weak reply after a few seconds of silence. "Are you serious?", you moaned and rubbed at your eyes with your free hand. "I've been asleep for like, two hours, Hinata. What do you want?" Sighing, you gave up on your sleep, certain that you wouldn't get any any time soon. "I'm sorry, Kageyama, really. It's just...", he trailed off, and you could hear him shifting in his bed. "What?" "I keep thinking about what happens if Natsu doesn't wake up again and I can't fall asleep and I thought, that maybe, you could talk me out of it, like you always do...", he mumbled shyly, which actually surprised you. Hinata wasn't shy. Sure, he hid behind other peoples backs when he was intimidated by people bigger and stronger than him, but that was about it, right? Why would he be shy now? "Listen, idiot! You sister will wake up eventually, as have said the doctors, same as I did several times today. She'll come around, so don't think too much about it. You need to be focused. I know your sister is important to you, but so is volleyball, right? Use it as a distraction. Play until you're dead on your feet and you'll sleep like a baby.", you lectured him in a quiet but harsh voice. That was what he wanted, wasn't it? "You heard me, right?", you demanded an answer from him. "Yeah, sure. I know you're right... It's just that I can't seem to get rid of these thoughts on my own. Yesterday, I didn't sleep at all.", he revealed to you. But it didn't surprise you, actually, when you thought about it. He had had quite the bags under his eyes this morning, even if they eventually were covered by his crying fit. "Which is why you absolutely need to go to sleep today, if you don't want to fall victim to exhaustion tomorrow.", you reasoned with him. "Hm-hm.", he hummed a wordless response and you figured he agreed to what you had said. After that, both of you were silent for a while, before Hinata spoke up again. "Kageyama? I... could you... I mean... could you maybe just talk until I'm asleep?", he quietly asked, and you could imagine that it must have cost him quite the effort to do so, since he quickly stammered on, before you could even come up with a fitting answer. "Ah, no! I mean, sorry! Don't bother! Forget I just asked that! It's not important! I'll let you sleep now! Sorry! Good night!" And then he hung up on you. Incredulous, you looked at you phone before you scrolled with new found determination through your contacts. What was that idiot thinking?! Muttering under your breath, you almost immediately pressed the call-button and waited for Hinata to pick up again.

You thought that maybe he would pick up right at the first ringtone, but he actually let you wait quite a while, before he answered your call with an uncertain "Y-yes?" "Dumbass! Don't just hang up on me like that!", you scolded him, but it didn't sound too angry and you could hear Hinata take a breath of relief on the other end of the line. "O-okay." Good. Now that this was out of the way, you found yourself wondering again. How on earth were you to talk to him? You never talked much, and you didn't have anything to tell, anyways. So, how could you possibly talk to him until he fell asleep? There was no way, was there? "I don't know, what I could possibly talk to you about.", you finally grumbled, thinking it best to just be honest with the poor guy. "I know, I was just hoping, that maybe... I don't know..." You sighed. What could you possibly do for him, other than just keeping the line open and listening to him breathing? You have never been good at talking, and he knew that, too. So why was he asking you to do something like that? You had always been a socially-awkward person, and being friends with him never really changed that. But then you got an idea. "Listen Hinata, that may sound dumb now, but how about I play you a lullaby?", you quickly asked, before you were able to change your mind again. And, sure enough, Hinata was more than just a little surprised. "A lullaby? I'm not a baby, Kageyama! And besides, how would you do that? You don't play any instruments and I don't think you can actually sing!", he objected, but you shook you head no. "Idiot! Just because you don't know, doesn't mean I don't play any instruments. I can play the piano just fine. My mother taught me when I was younger. And what else would I play but a lullaby to make you fall asleep, dumbass?", you grunted and got up, ignoring the coldness of the floor, when you put your bare feet on it. "Oh, really? I didn't know that! Then, lets see what you can do!", he cheered, changing his mind, when he heard your reasons. In silence you went downstairs, glancing into the living room on your way. Your mother was no longer sleeping on the couch, so she must have woken up sometime earlier and went to sleep in hers and your fathers bedroom.

Inside the room with the piano, you didn't want to switch on the light, instead settling for the dim light the moon provided through the window. Swiftly, you opened the lid which normally covered the keys with one hand and sat down on the bench. "I'll put you on loudspeaker, ok?", you mumbled, still a little sleepy, but not waiting for the redhead to agree, instead doing what you just said and put your mobile down on the music stand. "Okay.", Hinata answered anyway, as you slid your fingers over the dimly lit keys. It was just enough light on them to determine where your hands were, and probing, you pressed a few keys, just to be sure your hands where, where they should be. "You started already?", you heard the redhead mumble and shook your head no, before you realized that he couldn't see you and you had to answer him. "No, not yet. Give me a second. Do you have any wishes for what I should play?", you wanted to know, thinking that he may fall asleep sooner, if you played something he liked listening to. On second thought, though, Hinata surely knew no lullabies, or any other kind of calm or classical music. Well, except for the ones that had been played to them at music in school. And even then he had never really seemed to listen. "No, just pick something." Sure enough, you were right. "Okay, then I'll start now." A few more seconds of silence passed, in which you thought about which song you would play, before the first notes floated quietly, almost hesitantly through the room. Soon your playing became more secure, as Hinata calmly listened to it, his steady breath the only sign of life you received from him through your mobile. The Song you had picked actually was the one your mother would always play, when you weren't able to go to sleep when you were younger, and eventually you lost yourself in its melody, here and there adding parts to it and changing other bits completely, as memories and thoughts of loud, obnoxious, happy Hinata once again filled your head while you were playing. You didn't know how long you had been playing for him when you let the melody fade away -a blush evident on your face as you just realised what (or better: who) you'd been thinking about- and asked Hinata in a quiet tone if he was still awake. You didn't get an answer, only his low, steady breathing, which let you to assume that he fell asleep while you were playing. One of your rare, gentle smiles that you hardly ever showed anyone made its way to your lips and you ended the call, eager to get at least two or three more hours of sleep before you had to get up again.

The next morning at school, you couldn't help yourself but feel a little awkward around Hinata. He had thanked you for helping him go to sleep, while in the same breath asked you, if you would play for him again tonight -to which you could do nothing but nod in agreement. After all, he had rested, which was plain to see for everyone who knew how he looked like yesterday. And, what was even better, he was able to hit your tosses again. Not with his usual eagerness, but your whole team could feel the aura of pure willpower and determination floating around him. This alone was reason enough for you to play those lullabies to him at night. If it helped him go to sleep and be able to concentrate on practice the next day, you would gladly do it. -That is, as long as nobody from the team found out. Though, how would they know? You never told anyone, and if Hinata was able to keep his usually loud mouth shut, you should be safe. You didn't want them to think you had actually a soft heart. -Which you had, but you didn't want anyone to know that. Well, at least not everyone. Hinata knowing was fine, and maybe Suga-san and Daichi, too, but when you thought about that jerk Tsukishima knowing this -you wouldn't ever hear the end of it! And you would gladly go without that. But fate didn't like to play in your favour, today, it seemed, as Hinata asked you after practice -in the changing-room, where everyone could hear!- what you were going to play to him tonight, not in the least aware of what he just did. The room went silent in within seconds, and you could feel the heat rushing into your cheeks and to the tips of your ears. Great! This was just great! What did you do to deserve this? How could your own fate be so cruel to you? Embarrassed and angry, you threw that damn dumbass redhead a glare that certainly would have killed him, had that been possible. Hinata, however, didn't even so much as flinch at that and, when you didn't bother to give him a proper reply, said "What? You said you would! Don't you dare to not keep your promise, Bakageyama!" You huffed at that, still annoyed at him and grit out a short answer. "I haven't said anything yet, though." So don't go and make things up, idiot! -was, what you wanted to add, but thought that your glare probably relied that scolding to him, anyway.

* * *

Notes:

Sorry, everyone! That last week and a half was a little more hectic than I first anticipated. Time flew by so fast, and when I was halfway done with this, my birthday came around on Thursday and I was busy with family and old friends of mine.

Anyways, now I'm done, and I don't know, I feel I just rushed through this chapter like I was being chased by some evil spirit and I don't feel like I got Kags feelings across properly, but I really don't have it in me to just scrap it and rewrite the whole thing. I just hope you guys will like it, anyways!

_And, please, please, please, could you give me at least one or two reviews? ^^"_

I really would like to know what you think of it so far and if you maybe have any tips for me? I already know where I'll be going with this roughly, but there is always room for the little things in between :)

Oh, and thanks to those wonderful people who already faved the story and put it on their alert-list! I really appreciate it and love you guys so much! It really encourages me to go on with the story, knowing that there are people who're waiting for updates :3


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Of course, after that little information leaked out, Tsukishima made it a point of pestering you with snide remarks of you playing all sorts of really embarrassing instruments like flutes, lutes and stuff like that. He even came up with the suggestion of you playing the violin -honestly, did you actually look like you would play one? Surely, he was just messing with you, trying to rile you up even more. Though, that wasn't quite right. As someone who, at most occasions, chose music over any kind of social interaction -if it wasn't for Yamaguchi- Tsukishima was genuinely interested in which instrument you could possibly play. He just wasn't able to ask you about it, being the tsundere he was. But you being the stubborn, idiotic self that you were, of course you could never think of something so simple as that. It was Yamaguchi, who noticed Tsukishimas hidden interest and asked Hinata about it, since he anticipated you never would answer that question yourself. "Huh? It's obvious, though, isn't it? He plays the piano, and real good, too!", the redhead loudly cheered and slung his arm around your shoulders, while you just groaned inwardly and braced yourself for any more insulting remarks thrown your way, not thinking quick enough to shove Hinata away. "Huh. Who would've thought.", the blonde muttered, readjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose and eyeing you pointedly. "If you're so good at it, why don't you show us what a king like you can do, then? Surely, you can't be that good, seeing as it's the shrimp who judged your skills." That smug smile on his lips irritated you, and Tsukishima knew it, which was exactly why he showed it. Briskly, you shoved Hinata off of you, since he was still clinging to you and glared at the blonde and his companion. "You really think I would play for the likes of you?" -was, what you wanted to answer, but you knew better than this. After all, it was Tsukishima you were talking to. Who knew, how he would twist your own words to a sense you never intentioned? Instead, you settled for going along with him, hoping, that this would catch him off guard. "I don't actually like playing for you, but if it gets you to just shut the fuck up, I'm all in. Music room. Tomorrow at lunch." Sure enough, now the whole team was eyeing you incredulously, including said blonde. As if you were some alienated, totally unknown double of the guy they usually played volleyball with. Sighing, you could tell that the whole team would show up in the music room tomorrow, not just Tsukishima and his sidekick. But you weren't going to let that bother you, you decided and instead finished changing and headed out, waving off the opportunity of free meat-buns -provided by your Senpais. You had more important matters to tend to, such as thinking about what you would play tomorrow, since you really just wanted it to be like a punch in the face for that damn jerk.

Later that night, you were mailing with Tetsuya again, telling him of today's events and how much you loathed Tsukishima.

"Seriously, Tetsu, that guy is such a laid-back, incredibly sarcastic idiot! He constantly makes it a point of annoying me to the point I just want to punch him real hard! To shut him up, today I even had to agree to playing the piano, since he didn't believe me! In front of the whole team! Well, I didn't play since it was after practice already, but I will have to, tomorrow. What am I going to do?"

"That certainly sounds like it's quite busy around you. Though I'm sure they'll be stunned once you start. It's always been like that. Don't think too much about it! Also, remember we'll meet up next week! I think we're going to have free time on Friday afternoon. Is Hinata going to come? Have you asked him?"

You sighed at that. Right now, it was too lively for you. You weren't used to that much attention, outside of your beloved volleyball, that is. You'd rather enjoy Tetsu's quiet company, than having Hinata and Tsukishima nagging you.

"Yeah, I know. I'll make it and ask Hinata if he wants to tag along. He was going to call me later, anyway. I will let you know tomorrow! Good night!"

"Okay. Good night!"

And that ended your little chitchat. Now you had nothing left to do except for waiting for the redhead to call you. Which he did about half an hour later. You were already downstairs, switching through the different TV channels, while you waited. And since there was nothing, that you felt actually interested in, you switched it off, as soon as your mobile went off, telling you that Hinata finally called. "Hey.", was, what you greeted him with, and you got a loud yawn as answer. Seemed like he was already half asleep, huh? "Kageyama! Why did you leave so early after practice? You never say no to meat-buns!" You should have known, Hinata was as energetic as ever, even if he was tired. At least, you noticed, he spoke relatively quiet and didn't scream into the phone. You sighed, wondering. "I didn't feel like it. And besides, thanks to you I had to think about what I'll actually play to that idiot tomorrow!" You still weren't sure what exactly made you say that. You could have just ignored that four-eyed jerk, for god's sake! So why not? Why didn't you? Why did you order him to the music room instead? You didn't need to proof anything to him, did you? It would be just one more reason for him to get on your nerves, wouldn't it? "Ah, yeah. Sorry 'bout that. I'll make it up to you, promise!", the redhead cheered. "I should've thought about what I was saying before I opened my mouth, shouldn't I?", was added just a second later, and you couldn't help but think that he actually gave it some thought before he said that. Talk about Hinata and using his brain! You just shook your head no, though you were smiling a little. "Nah, what's done, is done. You can't change it now, anyway. As for making it up to me...", you trailed off, thinking that now was as good as any time to ask him if he would accompany you to meet with Tetsuya and this new friend of his. "What is it?", he urged you on, when you were silent for another two or three seconds. "Well, Tetsuya actually asked if you would like to tag along next Friday. Apparently his team is having a trainings camp in the area and they have free time on that day. We wanted to meet then, and he wanted to bring this new friend of his and thought it would be a good idea to have you with us.", you explained, while making it sound like it wasn't actually your wish for him to come along, but Tetsu's. Which it was, wasn't it? -Not, that he'd actually noticed it, anyway. "Really?! I can do that, I think!", he complied, happy enough. "Okay, I'll tell him tomorrow, then.", you nodded and got up from the couch to stroll over to the piano-room.

"How is Natsu doing, did anything change?", you wanted to know, once you had settled on the bench and slid the lid open, switching your mobile on loudspeaker and putting it on the music-stand, just as you did last night. "Same as yesterday. I was visiting her after practice." Apparently, this gave a little damper to his cheerfulness, though that wasn't your intention. You had just asked out of concern, seeing as you yourself had been visiting the little girl just yesterday. It was only natural, to check up on her well-being, wasn't it? "She'll be better soon.", is all you managed to say, loosely gliding your fingers over the black and white keys, without actually playing yet. "I know she'll be. She is like me, after all." You could almost imagine a small, but genuine smile spreading on his face when he said that. "Sure.", you nodded, now actually pressing a few keys to make some sound, though not yet a melody. The thought, that you found it a lot easier talking to him, when you were not face to face and he was not bouncing and jumping up and down around you, occurred to you, but you almost immediately pushed it back to the back of your mind, not wanting to think about something like that. Not when you were on the phone with him, at least. "So, what are you playing today?", he wanted to know, unintentionally helping you getting that thought out of your mind. "I don't know. What do you want to hear? The same one as yesterday, or something different?" You had thought about that, too, not sure if you actually wanted to play that song again. He seemed to be in a better mood than yesterday -or he was excellent at acting like it- and you didn't think the song from yesterday would be a good choice. "I don't know. It was good, really, but could you... maybe... play something else today?", Hinata almost shyly asked, as if he was suddenly afraid of your reaction again. "Sure, I could. Any wishes?", you questioned him, though you already knew he wouldn't have any, besides the one it had to be something else than yesterday's. "No." Just as you anticipated. "Okay.", you nodded nonetheless, while you let your fingers brush over the keys, slowly turning the randomly pressed keys to a melody. And, just as yesterday, Hinata quietly listened to your playing. For a while, you were too concentrated on your playing to notice anything besides the melodies you played and Hinatas soft breathing and occasionally shifting, when your mother looked into the room.

"Tobio-chan, don't stay up too long, okay?", she asked quietly, as soon as she noticed your glowing mobile on the music-stand. She gave you a questioning look, while you just nodded to her request. "Sure, mother. I wont take much longer. Good night.", you mumbled just as quietly, ignoring the questioning look she gave you. "What is it?", you heard Hinata mumble sleepily through the line, just as your mother closed the door behind her, and you were sure, he had been dozing off already. "Nothing. Go to sleep, you're tired.", you answered with a calm, quiet voice and continued playing the little tune your mind came up with. "... 'kay." You could hear him shift again, and then there was only his soft breathing again, mixed together with the melody, drifting through the room. It didn't take much longer for the redhead to really fall asleep.

Until lunch break, school went by pretty much uneventful. You even tried to listen to what the teachers tried to explain during their classes -in order to get your mind off of what you had to do during lunch break. You didn't really mind it, since you had ordered Tsukishima to the music room yourself, but that didn't mean you wanted to spend more time thinking about that jerk than absolutely necessary. Which is why you occupied your brain with other stuff. When the break finally rolled around, you immediately left your class, Hinata following at your heels. Surprisingly, he was pretty much quiet, though you could feel eagerness radiating off of him. So he was just as hell bend on showing that jerk that you actually were a mastermind on the piano and that he didn't just spout bullshit as you were. What was fine with you. Lucky for you, he room wasn't locked, since the last teacher who had a class in there was still around, packing up her belongings. "Excuse me, Sensei. May we have the room over lunch break?", you asked her, eyeing the piano in the front, as soon as she spotted Hinata and you by the door. "Well, generally I'm not allowed to do that. Pupils are not allowed in here alone.", she pondered, just when Sugawara and Sawamura showed up behind you. "Hana-Sensei, we would really appreciate it, if it were possible. It doesn't even have to be for the whole time of the break -right, Kageyama?", Suga first addressed the teacher, then you, and while you nod, Hana-Sensei still wasn't sure if she should allow it. Sure, Sugawara and Sawamura were both responsible and reliable characters, but it was against the rules, after all. "What is it? Why are you all blocking the door?", a obviously displeased Tsukishima showed up, eyeing the lot of you with a contemplating look, Yamaguchi peering into the room around his shoulder. "What are all of you boys doing here, anyway? Why do you need the music room? Couldn't you have met up somewhere else?", of course, these questions had to come up eventually. You sighed, attempting an answer, when actually Tsukishima spoke up, making his way through your Senpais and you and Hinata. "We're sorry, Hana-Sensei. If you could let us use the piano for a while, we would very much appreciate it." "The piano?", she eyed him suspiciously, "Well, if you don't mind me being around, then it's okay." She finally agreed, while you wondered what had made the blond to be so polite and why the teacher actually listened to him. By now, the rest of the team showed up, the lot of them taking seats and watching you expectantly. You sighed and walked up to the piano. Might as well get over with this charade, huh? One more person listening to you play wouldn't change anything now, anyway, so you didn't bother. Sitting down, you pressed a few keys, intently listening to the sound. "Hana-Sensei, the piano is a little bit off tune. You should let this be fixed sometime soon. For now, it will do, though.", you couldn't help to mention to the teacher, who had taken a seat at her desk and looked at you disbelievingly. As well as Tsukishima. Having said that, you let your fingers glide over the keys in an attempt to get familiar with the instrument and then settled down, inhaling deeply. You weren't nervous, but taking a deep breath always helped you to concentrate.

And then you started playing.

* * *

Notes:

Sorry for the long wait, everyone! I was a little busy since I just got a new job and I'm still in the process of figuring out my new time-table and getting used to it. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. There is not much going on, but I feel like some of this stuff will be important in the future in some way or another.

Also, I was wondering, if maybe I should write some of the chapters from Kuroko's/Kagami's POV, seeing as this is actually a crossover and not just a kagehina fic êe Would you guys want that? Please let me know!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

When you finished Yiruma's 'Spring Time', everyone was pretty much gaping at you open mouthed. Well, everyone except for Hinata, who just showed a very confident, very wide and goofy smile on his face, which you couldn't help but be content with. After all, it meant you even exceeded his expectations, right? Sure, he knew by now, that you were a more than just decent player, but still. You closed the lid, not uttering a single word, but just stared at your team, especially Tsukishima, who looked completely dumbfounded. Apparently he really didn't expect you to be as talented as you were, though you couldn't care less about his expectations and whether you reached them or not. You got up from the bench and went over to your team, now waiting for some kind of reaction other than just their gaping. Noya-San seemed to get himself together as soon as you were in front of them, and just seconds later he and Tanaka-San were chatting loudly about your performance, with Hinata joining them. Daichi and Sugawara provided you with encouraging nods and the rest of the team joined them and even attempted to do a round of clapping for you, though that ebbed off again very soon.

Before Tsukishima could say anything to you, though, the Teacher, Hana-Sensei, came up to you, putting her Hand on you shoulder and ushered you away from your team. You let it happen with a frown apparent on your forehead. What could that woman possibly want from you, now? "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name before, -?", she asked you. "I'm class 1-C, Kageyama Tobio.", you introduced yourself and she gave a short nod, obviously making a mental note about it. "Kageyama-kun, you are really good at playing the piano. Why didn't you join the school orchestra? We could use someone with such an astounding talent. Would you give it a thought to join in?" You inwardly groaned at that. Exactly this was why you never mentioned your talent before. You knew, people -and especially the teachers- would keep bothering you to play in an official setting and stuff like that, even if you mentioned again and again that you liked playing volleyball much more. Playing the piano was just a hobby for you, a way of clearing and sorting your thoughts, something you did solely for yourself -well, and your friends- and not for large groups of people whom you didn't even knew, let alone liked. "I'm sorry, Hana-Sensei, but I don't want to join. I like playing volleyball a lot more.",you answered her sternly, to make it clear that you weren't going to think about it again and didn't want to be bothered by it any more than this. Hana-Sensei, however, didn't seem to notice your determination, or she simply didn't care. "Please, Kageyama-kun, think about it! You could be a great soloist with that talent, even!" Clearly, she didn't know about your reputation in Volleyball, did she? Though, you weren't going to tell her and instead settled for shaking your head no, outright refusing her. "No. I mean to play volleyball for my three years here, and that won't change. If you would excuse me now, Sensei? I still need to eat my lunch before the break ends. Thank you for your offer, though.", you bow your head to her and returned to your team without so much as another glance at the shocked teacher -which was rude, probably, but you couldn't find it in you to care about that. You had the reputation of 'the grumpy kid' with the teachers, anyway, so why bother?

Your team, however, seemed to have come to its senses while you were talking to Hana-Sensei. They flocked around you like a herd of stupid sheep, bombarding you with questions and congratulations all at once, and to be honest, it was a little too much for you, but you didn't say anything about it. Instead, you tried to enjoy the attention from them -at least until Tsukishima came walking up to you. Up until now he had been holding his distance, but he had to say something to you, since he was the one who made you play for the team in the first place. "That certainly was a surprise.", he said, no emotion whatsoever showing on his pale face. "I really didn't expect you to actually be that good." Well, if that wasn't a compliment, then what? You knew this was the best you could possibly hope for from him, so you just shrugged. "Yeah, well, I wouldn't have ordered you here if I weren't confident in my skills, so now that that's settled, can you just shut up already?" After all, you didn't go around and made fun of him and his skills every time you got the chance to do so, and you would really appreciate it, if he could do the same. If you two could somehow work out a truce, even if it just was temporary or something, you would be happy with it, you thought. "I don't know...", he droned, which only caused you to sigh exasperatedly, but you didn't say any more, just looking him in the eyes, trying to get a proper answer from him. "Ugh, fine. Yes.", Tsukishima eventually gave in, and you gave him an approving nod, just when Hana-Sensei shooed the lot of you out of the room so she could lock it up. Everyone gave you a last, congratulating clap on the back and went their different ways after that, except for Hinata, who stuck to following you around and eventually got you to agree to eat lunch with him.

"You know, you should play for Natsu when she wakes up.", Hinata stated quite matter-of-factly while you tried to enjoy your lunch in silence. It wasn't that you disliked his company, but sometimes his constant chattering just got to your nerves, so you tried to zone out on some of it. Though that one sentence caught your ears. "And how would I do that? I don't suppose you have a piano at your house, and the one here is no option, either.", you dead-panned, the thought that they simply could come over to your home never even crossed your mind. "-Eh? How is that a problem? We can come over to your place, right?", apparently, Hinata wouldn't leave it alone until you agreed, so you just sighed. "Well, I guess that could work.", you gave in, concentrating on the remnants of your lunch. The break was almost over by now, and you had to get back to your classrooms, too. However, the redhead seemed to have other plans and instead pulled a volleyball from his bag, as soon as the both of you had finished your meals. "Hey, toss to me!", he implored with his almost-back-to-normal cheerful smile, which you couldn't quite resist. You put your lunch box away and got up, agreeing to him. A little more practice wouldn't harm neither of you. "Okay, but only until the first bell rings.", you set up your usual rule, which the redhead accepted, though a little reluctant, as always. He tossed the ball to you and you immediately returned it to him. A while it goes back and forth like this, and neither of you dropped the ball once, when the bell rung a few minutes later. You caught his ball, threw it back to him and picked up your belongings, ready to leave for your afternoon classes. "See you at training, then, Bakageyama!" Hinata shouted, while he already was halfway back at the schools entrance, his voice echoing all over the courtyard. But you were used to that, and shouted back just as loud: "Don't you dare be late again, dumbass!" Hinata accepted your warning with his usual bright grin and a small laugh, which you never failed to hear, even if the other students who were milling around chatted loudly with each other. There must be something wrong with your ears -right?

Later that day, when your training was over, you found yourself walking back home together with Hinata for the first time this week, since he was headed for the hospital the days before. And you found it to be nice to be back together with him like this, just the two of you, walking next to each other. He wasn't talking non stop, like he used to, before his sister had that accident, and, though part of you missed his animated talking habits, you couldn't help but like this quite comfortable silence that had settled between the two of you. At the crossroad you had to part ways, Hinata got on his bike, ready to leave for his home, when he stopped and looked at you over his shoulder. "You will play for me again, later tonight, right?", apparently, he wasn't sure if you were going to stop playing the piano for him, now, that he was coping a little better with his sister's hospitalisation. "Dumbass. What made you think I'm not?" Since you had never even said anything like you'd stop or something even remotely similar. Or did you, actually? You frowned at that, contemplating everything you had said in Hinatas presence today. -No, there was nothing you had said that could have triggered it. So how did he come up with that nonsensical idea? "I don't know... just a feeling? I guess?", he offered, smiling weakly. Sighing, you punched him quite lightly to the arm closest to you, and muttered "Idiot Hinata. Why would I do that?" before you clicked your tongue at him, wondering to yourself why you were even friends with this oaf. However, the redhead didn't answer you, but just shot you a confident smile and waved to you before he started pedalling off, the squeaking of his chain still noticeable, even though he was out of sight already. You stood a few moments longer at the crossroad, listening to the fading sound of that familiar squeaking, before you headed for home yourself.

You had to tell Tetsu that Hinata would come with you to meet him and his new friend, as well as the outcome of your little one-song-concert from lunch-break. Since, even if he'd actually never said it, Tetsuya was sure as hell itching to get to know the details. After all, you knew him well enough to know that about him. Tetsu never showed any emotion, well, not never, but hardly ever. You had to be an expert to read the slightest changes in his mimic to differ his emotions, otherwise you could easily mistake honest interest with cynical jabs or annoyance.

"Hinata is coming with us on Friday.", was all you typed out for your first text, after you had finished your homework and had nothing else to do while you waited for Hinata to call you.

"Great! Now I can tell Kagami he's going to meet Hinata. I'm sure they will like each other a lot."

Wait, what? Did you -did you just read that right? Your eyes weren't playing tricks on you, were they? No, there it was: "like each other a lot." What the actual fuck?! You read that line again and again, wondering, why Hinata -your dumbass redhead ball of sunshine Hinata- would like this mysterious Kagami-person? And how could that stranger like Hinata back? Well, that actually wasn't that hard to figure out, seeing as even you had taken to him in no time, actually, but that was not the point, not at all! How could Tetsu be spouting such nonsense at you! You of all people! Had he forgotten just how -no, wait! Stop, stop, stop, stop! Stop! You had not just thought 'your dumbass redhead ball of sunshine', had you? Your thoughts sputtered, trying to figure out, what just happened, before you slid your pillow over your head and groaned. This was not actually happening, right? Where the hell did that thought come from?

"Tobio? Are you alright?", your mobile had noted you of another text from your blue haired childhood friend, which you only read out of reflex. He was wondering if you were alright? How could you be, after he just threw you out of synch with those words of his?! You actually glared daggers at the screen of your phone, before you harshly typed a quick reply, just now noticing, that you had spent over half an hour just thinking about those damn words. Another groan escaped you, just as you hit the send-button.

"Of course. I just had to run an errand to the neighbours for my mother and didn't take my phone."

Which was only half a lie. You almost never took your phone, when you left the house to walk errands for your mother, and Tetsu knew that. So he should be accepting this, right? He couldn't possibly know you had spent all this time lying on your bed, panicking over his choice of words, and you were happy about that. Which brought you back to your problem of where that thought originated and how you could get rid of it. But nothing came to mind. Not at all.

"Ah, okay. Then it's fine. Don't you think, they'll get along quite well? After everything I heard about Hinata-san from you I can't hep but think this will be the case.", the bluenette inquired of you, this time actually formulating a question, so you had to answer.

"Probably. I don't know. How would I, even?" Not actually the nicest answer and a quite defensive one, at that, but you couldn't care less. Your thoughts still were in disarray, after all, and you were sure they wouldn't calm down until later tonight, when you played the piano. Besides, you didn't know a thing about that Kagami, except that he was a basketball idiot, just like Tetsu, really tall and a redhead, too.

"Well, you do seem to be pretty close to Hinata, so I thought you knew him well enough to assume things like that?", he suggested, now obviously poking your weak spot. Which was funny, since you never even hinted at that. It was just that Tetsu was awfully good at reading and observing people, just like that irking Setter from Nekoma. What was his name again? Kenta, or something like that, you believed. It didn't matter, though, and you shoved the thought out of your mind.

"I don't know. We don't even get along that well. We're always fighting." Which wasn't even true. Well, you still fought, but over the course of this last week, your otherwise daily fights with the redhead were practically nonexistent. You bickered occasionally, sure, but that was hardly ever more than playful banter, and now, with Natsu in hospital, you couldn't really bring yourself to pick a serious fight with the redhead.

"Is that so? Stop that, then."

You didn't know, what to reply to that, so you didn't reply at all.

* * *

Notes:

This one was a bitch, like, seriously. I didn't know what I was even doing half the time I was writing this. I hardly ever managed more than a few sentences at once at first, but now it's finally finished and though I'm not entirely happy with the outcome, I might as well upload it now, since I won't change it again at this point. For the last half, I listened to this awesome german rock musician, called _Staubkind_, and it worked more fluently from then on until the end. Actually, I wrote it in one go, so now it's 3:20am german time and I'm so done, I could fall asleep writing these notes. But I'm trying hard not to, and I hope you are all happy about the (very belated) new chapter and enjoyed reading this story so far. I'm not sure how much more chapters are going to come, but I'm sure, _there will be many. many more_ and I sincerely hope you guys are sticking around for it, even if it may take a while ^^'


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Lucky for you, you didn't need to wait much longer until Hinata finally called you and you were able to effectively banish the confusion over Tetsuyas texts from your thoughts. Well, it was still there, put away in to the very back of your consciousness, adamantly popping up into focus again and again, until you actually put your phone on the music stand and started playing. Hinata hadn't had any specific wishes, as you had expected, so you were just randomly creating melodies and tunes while you played, replaying and rearranging parts you especially liked. The redhead, as you already knew, was a very good listener, which you probably should have been expecting, but his words caught you off guard, nonetheless. "Hey, Kageyama? Is everything alright? Somehow, you seem to be different than usual." Damn, so he noticed, huh? You couldn't help but give an exhausted sigh, not having the energy to actually deny it and stopped playing -for the moment, that is. "Yeah, well. There's something that Tetsuya said that's bothering me.", you eventually filled him in, though you didn't want to tell any more than this. You knew he probably wouldn't be satisfied with just that, but that didn't matter. "Really? What did he say?", he wanted to know more. But you just shook your head no, even though he wouldn't be able to see it. "Doesn't matter. It's something I need to figure out myself.", you mumbled, hoping, this would somehow ease his curiosity. "Are you sure? I could always help you, you know? You just need to say so! Besides, I still owe you for all the stuff you did for me this last week." Hah? Where the hell did he get that from? "Dumbass. You don't owe me anything. It's only natural to help a friend, isn't it?", you grumbled, actually once not paying attention to your choice of words. Which is why Hinata was silent for a few seconds, before he cheerily answered your question. "I guess so, yeah. So does that mean I am your friend?" He put extra emphasis on the last word, and at first, you wondered, why he'd do that, when it finally dawned on you and you noticed your mistake. Shit! You groaned and hung your head for a moment, before you continued playing. You didn't want to answer that question. And besides, he'd probably figured it out, already, right? Because, even if he was quite the idiot most of the time, he could be rather perceptive and sharp, if he wanted to -and apparently, when you were involved, he wanted to. How else would you explain his words from the other day, when he first called you in the middle of the night? At least, he didn't say anything else, while you played now and just listened, as he did previously. You busied yourself with your own mess of thoughts, completely losing track of the time you spent playing, while you tried to figure out what was up with you lately.

Unfortunately, when you stopped playing -it was well past midnight already- you still hadn't been able to come up with an answer. You had even forgotten, that you were still on the phone with Hinata -well, technically. However, that dumbass must have fallen asleep earlier, right? So you reached up to your phone on the music stand, in an attempt to hang up the call, when you heard his sleepy voice drifting through the room. "...Why'd you stop? I'm not asleep yet, you know?", he mumbled groggily, and you could hear him shift in his bed and probably even rub his sleepy eyes. "I thought you were asleep for a while now, idiot.", was, what you replied grumpily and got up from your seat on the bench. "Well, I'm not, so play some more, would ya?" You sighed at that. Demanding and selfish as always, that little shrimp! "No. I'm tired and my hands are sore. If I play any more, I wont be able to perform my usual at volleyball tomorrow." Which probably wasn't even a lie. You were sure, you wouldn't be able to play at your best tomorrow. That is, if your thoughts were still in a mess up until then. "Booh. That's so not cool, Kageyama.", he pouted, while you closed the lid over the keys and picked your phone up from the stand, to take it with you up to your room.

"And since when do I care about being cool?", you wanted to know, while you trudged up the stairs, not bothering switch from loudspeaker back to the normal speaking mode, since you didn't want to have his drowsy voice directly in your ear. Your mother certainly was in deep slumber already and wouldn't notice that your were still talking to Hinata, anyway. "I know, I know, Baka!", the redhead agreed, if a little huffish. "So, what now? I'm still awake.", he reminded you, just as you let yourself fall onto your own bed with a content sigh. "I noticed.", you dead-panned. How else would he be able to talk to you, if he weren't awake, hm? "Ugh, Kageyama, was that supposed to be a joke?" You frowned at that. How was that a joke, by any means? Well, your silence must have been enough of an answer for him, since he chuckled quietly. "I should have known, you wouldn't be able to make a joke, even if your life depended on it." And again you gave him the silent treatment, though you were actually grinning devilishly. Creepy, the redhead would say, if he saw it, but he didn't. "And how can you be so sure about that?", you inquired, knowing full well that he impossibly could. Sure, he had his way of somehow figuring you out like no one else could, but there was no way of him ever knowing something like this. Heck, you didn't even know the answer to that for yourself, so how should he be able to know you better than you did yourself?

"I don't know, I just am! ...It's... it's always like this with you...", he was practically shouting that first part, but almost inaudibly mumbled the last one. You, though not yet able to process what you had just heard, opened your mouth in an attempt to form an answer of some kind, but you weren't capable to form coherent words, it seemed. So you just closed your mouth again and instead pulled the covers up to your chin, your phone placed somewhere next to your pillow. You contemplated if you had heard that last part right or if your ears were just playing tricks on you -if it was just wishful thinking of some kind on your side- but you weren't able to come up with an answer. "Say something!", the redhead demanded after a while, when neither of you had said so much as a word until then, though you were still thinking about your answer, completely forgetting the time you spent. Honestly, you had thought he had finally fallen asleep by now, but apparently, you were wrong again, huh? "What am I supposed to say?" Instead of an answer, you came up with a question, wanting to know from him, what he wanted you to say, or better yet: what he thought you would say, since obviously he knew you better than you did yourself! "Are you serious? You're supposed to yell at me for the nonsense I'm spouting! You're supposed to scold me and promise me living hell for tomorrows practice! You're supposed to call me dumbass and claw my head as punishment! You're supposed to threaten me that you'll stop tossing to me if I don't stop pestering you!" Oh? So, that's what it was? "Don't tell me you actually like all that, dumbass. That's kind of weird, you know?", you actually tried to joke, this time, but you were sure it came out wrong. However, it didn't matter, since Hinata, for his part, at least, seemed to be trying to find a honest answer. "No, that's not what I'm trying to say here, idiot. What I'm saying, is, that this would be your normal reaction. What you're doing right now is freaking me out, even more so than your usual behaviour. I know something is up with you, but I can't -for the love of god!- figure out, what it is! And it's driving me up the walls! So stop with all that weirdness and go back to being your usual grumpy self, would ya?!", Hinata actually ranted at you. Not, that you'd blame him, though. After all, you were acting differently as of late, there was no way, the redhead hadn't picked up on that, yet -even if he had his little sister to worry about. He was the person you spent most of your time with, so how could you expect him not to notice anything? Damn, it was a wonder in itself that you hadn't messed anything up until now, wasn't it? When you didn't answer him again, Hinata sighed and continued with his little speech, though quieter than before. "Bakageyama, I know, something is up. Why don't you just tell me and see if I can help you somehow? You have done so much for me in this last week and I want to repay you somehow. So please, even though I don't know if I can help you, couldn't you at least let me try? I know there is something bothering you, and I know it has to do with this Tetsuya-person and what he said to you, you said so for yourself, earlier." Now it was your turn to sigh. "I told you already. This is something I need to figure out on my own. You can't help me." Well, he could, by coming over and serve a volleyball to your head, just as he did back at your first trainings-match with Nekoma, but like hell you were going to say that! "I do thank you for your offer though, Hinata." "You're an idiot, you know that, right?", came the exasperated, but at the same time, tired answer. "Yeah, I know, dumbass. Now go to sleep already, I'm tired as hell.", you demanded from him, and he yawned loud and long. He was tired, alright. "I'll try. But if you ever need help figuring this thing of yours out, come to me first, okay?" You looked a little surprised, if not bewildered at the ceiling of your room, but found yourself nodding, nonetheless. "Will do. Good night, Sh-Hinata." Damn! Talk about messing up and here you were, almost doing just that! You were about to panic, when Hinatas sleepy voice drifted over to you. "Yeah, good night to you, too, Bakageyama." And with that, the redhead ended the call, leaving you alone with your jumbled thoughts.

At least, today was the last day of school for the week, which meant you would have the whole weekend to yourself. Your mother had informed you this morning that she was going to be on a business-trip until sometime next week and didn't know, when she'd be back, but would give you a call every other day. Your father was still away, and would be, until Sunday night, if there weren't any changes in his plans. You'd have the house to yourself for at least three days straight, and you planned to use them effectively. -Which actually meant you'd be playing lots and lots of volleyball against the wall in the garden, play the piano as loud as you wanted and watch movies all night long. You smiled at that thought. You had planned to watch a few of them for some time now, and you couldn't wait to see them, finally.

"Geez, Kageyama, stop it with that creepy smile. Its freaking everyone out!" Hinata literally jumped you from behind, wrapping his legs around your middle and his arms around your neck in an attempt to hold on and not fall down again, while you stumbled for a few steps, until you found your balance again. Afternoon practice was over and your team was headed for the clubroom now, to change out of their gym clothes. "Dumbass! What are you doing?! Get off of me!", you scowled and tried to pluck him off of your back -sadly, to no avail. All it did was making him cling to you even more than before. And it didn't help that you could feel his breath on the skin of your neck now, as well as his unruly hair tickling your ear. Too close. Hinata was too close and you couldn't do anything about it! "No. Carry me!", he declined, hands gripping tight to your shirt. "I won't! Now get off already! I'm not a drudge!" Another futile attempt to peel his legs off of your waist followed those words, but it didn't get you anywhere and you were about to panic. He was so close! You could feel his chest against your back, you noticed how he actually wasn't as heavy as you had expected him to be and you most certainly would've been content with this arrangement of carrying him around, if it wasn't in public, were everyone could see you. "Doesn't matter! Friends do that, sometimes!" Oh no, he wasn't doing that now, was he? He wasn't actually playing the friends-card, right? You whipped your head around to scowl at him, noticing too late that this was the worst thing you could have done. Now you found yourself nose to nose with the redhead, the tips of your noses were actually touching. You were so close, you could actually see the golden sprinkles in his brown eyes that fascinated you so much, but you didn't dare take your time staring at them.

Instead, your own eyes widened in shock and you stumbled backwards again, trying to get away from those eyes, completely forgetting that Hinata was still hanging on your back and that taking a few steps back wouldn't get you anywhere. Well, that wasn't exactly right, either. It did get you somewhere: You lost your balance and fell backwards, and though you tried to catch yourself with your hands, it didn't work out the way you wanted it to. You still fell on your back, but the impact wasn't as rough as it could have been. Or that was just your imagination, since you had Hinata cushioning your back. "Ow...", you groaned, completely in synch with Hinatas "Ouch!" You tried to get up, but found yourself unable to. The redhead was still holding on to you tightly, and you lay on your back like a turtle on its shell, fawning helplessly with your arms and legs, not able to turn yourself around again. "Oi, dumbass! Let go of me already!", you demanded, trying to ignore the fact that Hinata's grip on you only tightened, the more you moved and tried to get up again. He groaned but gave in eventually, when he noticed you weren't able to get up again if he wouldn't let go. "Fine. But you have to make it up to me by coming with me to the hospital today!", he decided, just as he untangled himself from you, so you could get up again. "Instead of jumping me like that, you could have just asked me, you know?", you sighed while you got up, not finding it in yourself to actually decline his order. And besides, you wanted to see for yourself how his sister was faring so far.

"I know! But you didn't hear me before, so I had to take drastic measures!", he grinned, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, and you frowned at him, while you held a hand out to him to help him back up. "Is that so?", you wondered, pulling the redhead back on his feet, just as he took your hand. "Of course, Bakageyama!", he retorted, still smiling. "So, are you coming?", he asked again, since you hadn't answered him just yet. "I don't see why not. I wanted to go see her again, anyway.", you agreed, thinking, that with nobody home, no one would mind if you were out past your curfew, anyway. "Great! I'm sure Natsu will be happy! Oh, I actually recorded your playing from yesterday! So we can play it to her later! I'm sure she'll like it!"

* * *

Notes:

I know, this one was pretty much uneventful in terms of story-progress, but I felt like I just rushed through the previous chapters kinda, so I wanted to take things a little slower for now. Surprisingly, this one is the longest chapter I've written so far, though to me it doesn't seem like it. It just went down so fluently and I didn't struggle with this one at all. Everything felt like it just clicked right into place in this chapter. And I like the atmosphere around Kags and Hinata right now. I like how Hinata actually notices Kags internal struggle but can't figure out how to help him, the poor guy :D

Aside from that, I think, I will wait with the next update, since I want to get a little ahead on the story. I do have to move sometime this November again, and I know things will be super busy around then and I wont be able to write much, if at all, so I want to have something in store for then, so that I can update (more or less) regularly :)


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"You did what?!", you couldn't believe what he just said. He had recorded your playing without letting you know? Why? It wasn't like you would've said no if he just asked you about it, but since when had Hinata been such a sneaky guy? Normally, he was straight-forward with the things he wanted and just blurted them out, just when they came to mind. "You idiot! Why would you do that? I already said I'd play for her sometime, didn't I?", you grumbled and shot your hand forward to claw his head like you used to, as you normally would have done, when he did something to irritate you. "Ack! Yes, I did! I know you said so, but that may take a really long time, and I thought that maybe, listening to your music would help her wake up! The doctors have said something like that, after all.", he pouted, while at the same time tried to escape the grip of your hand. "Dumbass Hinata." Eventually, you let go of his head and turned away from him in order to go to the clubroom to change out of your smelly gym clothes. "There are other ways to let her listen to me playing the piano without secretly recording it, you know?", you informed him, while you walked, the redhead following you right on your heels. "Really? Like what?" He didn't seem to have a single clue on that, which is why you listed some possibilities for him: "First, you could have just asked me if I'd let you record me or if I maybe even had a recording of my playing that I could send to you. Secondly, you could have called me while you were at the hospital and just put your phone on loudspeaker so Natsu could hear it, too." And this is where you stopped, since right now you couldn't think of a third option, but it didn't seem to matter, anyway. The redhead looked like he was completely amazed at those two other possibilities. "I never thought of that! Let's do that the next time, then! Okay, Kageyama?", he practically beamed at you, and you found yourself nodding in agreement. You couldn't say no to him, anyway, so you didn't even try to resist.

At the hospital, you went through the same procedure as you did the first time you came here, but this time you couldn't even find it in yourself to care. Hinata was a lot cheerier than as he had been at his first visit, when you were with him, and talked to you animatedly -though you listened with only half an ear. When he pushed the door to Natsu's room open, you were greeted by quite the different sight than you expected. Well, of course, over the flow of the week there must have been people visiting the smaller redhead, but you didn't expect so many gifts and get-well-cards as you saw, piled up on an extra desk, which must have been explicitly put in here. Other than that, there was a vase full of big sunflowers placed on the nightstand, and there was a person sitting in the chair next to her. Hinatas mother. "Mom! You're here! Didn't you say you had to work until later this evening?", the redhead changed his subject instantly, the moment his eyes fell on his mother. Not that you minded, anyway, which is why you politely bowed to the woman, greeting her. "Hello Sho-chan, hello Kageyama-kun.", she greeted the both of you with a pleasant smile on her lips, before she continued, answering the question of her son. "Well, I thought so, too. But I finished earlier than expected, so I left and came here straight away. I just arrived a few minutes before you." "Ah, I see. Mom, guess what! I recorded Kageyama's playing from yesterday, just like you said I should! We can play it to Natsu now! And he wasn't even mad at me! -Well, not as much, as I expected him to be, anyway!", he all but blurted out, and you raised an eyebrow at him. Just as his mother suggested, eh? That explained it, of course. "Oi, Dumbass!", you whacked him on the back of his head with the flat side of your hand to scold him, "What's that supposed to mean?", you wanted to know, glaring angrily at him and not bothering that his mother was in the same room, just as Natsu, witnessing the whole incident. "Ouch! Crap! I'm sorry, okay?", Hinata pouted, while he rubbed the back of his head. "I just thought, that, when the doctors suggested that we could play some music for Natsu, it'd be great if she could listen to you. I told Mom that you played for the team just yesterday and she suggested it! It's not my fault!", he tried to defend himself, and his mother actually looked apologetically at you. She wouldn't do that if she were innocent, right? You sighed in defeat, nonetheless. "Go on and play it, then." Not that you could do much about it, anyway. You shuffled over to one of the two still empty chairs in the room, making yourself comfortable, while Hinata dug in his bag for his phone.

You had actually never listened to any of your recorded plays before, so you felt a little awkward, listening to it, but you eased into it, when you saw the looks on both of Hinatas and his mothers faces. They were totally in awe, looking totally enraptured by the melodies and tunes you had created yesterday night. It were all simple little things, nothing special, but to them, it seemed to be, anyway. After a while Hinata turned down the volume, placing the phone on the nightstand, so that the recorded music wasn't any more than just background-music, and his mother turned to you, a thankful expression on her face. "Thank you for sharing this with us, Kageyama-kun. It was wonderful." You nodded, accepting the compliment. It may have felt a little awkward, being praised by someone other than your family or your teachers, but you thought, you could get used to it. More or less, anyway. Hinata, however, had started fidgeting in his spot, obviously restless. His mother noticed, too, and smiled at her son. "Sho-chan, why don't you and Kageyama-kun go outside for a little while? Natsu is fine, and she will be. I'm sure, Kageyama-kuns music will help her get better." "I hope so. It helped me, after all.", he smiled a little, though it was still obvious, how restless he was. Hinata wasn't made for sitting still, you knew that. Which is why you got up from your seat and walked over to the door. "Come on, idiot. You've got your ball with you, right? I'll toss to you." That certainly brightened Hinata's features and he literally jumped over to the door, eager to get out. He almost forgot to get the volleyball, though, so he had to jump back again to get it.

Outside, there was a small patch of grass and bushes, where people were walking around or were pushed in wheelchairs. They must be patients in the hospital, you thought and looked for a place a little away from the people, so Hinata wouldn't hit them with any stray balls and you'd be undisturbed. Finally happy with the spot, Hinata got out his ball and tossed it to you, happy to get to play some more volleyball today. The sun would be going down, soon, and both of you intended to play as long as possible with the dwindling light. For a while, the ball went to and fro through tosses you sent to each other and neither of you said anything. You were content like that. You didn't need to talk all the time, and it felt comfortable to have Hinata's silent company. He was too concentrated on his tosses to be talking much, and you didn't want him to, anyway. Silence was good. It let your thoughts go astray, while your hands mechanically sent precise tosses to the redhead. "Hey, I want to spike the ball.", Hinata eventually pulled your out of your thoughts, but you shook your head no. "No, dumbass. What if you hit any of the people around? And besides, there isn't a border anywhere. The ball might roll onto the street. It's getting dark, too. We should head back inside.", you tried to convince him otherwise. Hinata pouted, but caught the ball nonetheless, accepting your reasons. "Fine, but you'll toss to me tomorrow, then.", he demanded, and you frowned. "It's Saturday tomorrow. There is no school, or training.", you remembered him, while you walked over to him, to head back inside together. He had put the ball back by now and his bag slung around his shoulders. "Who cares? We can meet up at the park near school. There is plenty of space for tosses, and we won't bother anyone.", he argued with you and you were tempted to give in, but that would be no fun now, would it? Sure, you had planned to spend your weekend with volleyball practise, anyway, but you couldn't help yourself. Just for the heck of it! So, you deepened your frown, trying to not look compliant and grumbled under your breath: "Yes, we could, but what if I have other plans for tomorrow?" Now it was Hinatas turn to frown. "What plans could you possibly have beside practising volleyball? I thought I was doing you a favour here, you know?" You had to try hard not to smile like a devil and laugh at him. He didn't actually believe that, did he? "That's none of your concern, is it?", you wanted to know instead, just as you walked through the door to the intensive care area. "Of course it is!", he bristled, "You are my friend, therefore I want to spend time with you outside of school!" Your eyes widened in shock, or better: surprise. Of course, you thought of him as a friend, but spending time together outside of school never actually crossed your mind. What was it, that friends did, anyway? You had no idea whatsoever as to what you could do all day with Hinata. -Well, except for playing volleyball that is. He seemed to have sensed your being startled and grinned. "So, what do you say? I know you have nothing else to do, anyway! Come on, Bakageyama!", he urged you on, and you gave a seemingly exasperated smile, giving in now. "Fine, fine. We can meet up there." The smile that erupted on Hinatas face when he heard those words could have outshone the sun, it was so bright and radiant. Just like the boy himself, really.

Later, Hinatas mother insisted she'd be taking you home again -she didn't want you walking alone late at night, since it was already dark outside. You just agreed to it, because you knew, if you didn't, Hinata would be pestering you until you did. This time, it was better to not put up a fight. The car ride itself was a quite affair, just like last time. You were just giving directions to Hinata-San now and then, and pretty soon, you found yourself outside of your dark home. No lights were on -of course, since your parents were away for the weekend- and the brown haired woman frowned. "Aren't your parents home yet, Kageyama-kun?" You shook your head, looking at the woman through the rear mirror. "No, they are away on business trips for the weekend.", you explained, as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world. Which it was -to you, anyway. "Really? How cool!", Hinata piped up and turned around to look at you. "My father comes back at Sunday afternoon, though, so it's not the whole weekend.", you felt the urge to explain further. Besides, it wasn't the first time, this happened, and you were used to it by now. "Is that so?", Hinatas mother wondered out loud, and then turned off the engine of the car. "Well, why don't you come over to our's, then? You wouldn't be alone, and we'd have the whole weekend to practise volleyball! It's ok, right, mum?" Clearly, the redhead was taken by his idea and practically bounced in his seat with excitement. "I guess it would be fine, we do have an extra futon, after all, and you rarely bring friends home, anyway. I don't see why it should be a problem?", his mother agreed. You felt yourself become nervous, though. Stay over? At a stranger's home? Well, strictly speaking, Hinata was no stranger, and neither his mother, but the thought of intruding in their home felt wrong to you. You hadn't done anything to earn their hospitality, after all. Luckily, Hinatas mother seemed to sense your uneasiness and smiled at you. "Don't worry, Kageyama-kun. It's fine, really. And you could give your parents a call and tell them you're staying over." "I don't know. I've actually made plans for tonight and I was looking forward to them.", you mumbled. Your parents couldn't care less for what you did on the weekends they weren't home, anyway, so could be a lazy ass in the evenings, if you wanted to. As long as the house was clean and in order when they came back, you could do as you pleased. But you had plans for tonight and you were actually looking forward to them, so tossing them out the window seemed to be a waste. "What plans? Maybe we could do them together!", Hinata exclaimed eagerly. You sighed and shrugged. "Nothing special, just watching a few movies I wanted to see for a while now...", you gave in eventually, knowing that he wouldn't shut up if you didn't tell him. "Boooring! But I suppose we could watch at least one or two. If you bring them!", he agreed, and even Hinata-San smiled a little.

Inside, you plucked your phone from the charging station and tried calling your mother. -Not that you expected her to pick up, anyway. She usually was working until late into the night, even on those trips, and 'didn't have time for the small concerns of her son's', as she had voiced it, once. As expected, she didn't pick up, not even after the eights or ninth ring, so you gave up. Calling your father was out of the question, since he usually never concerned himself with your problems, anyway. You sighed again, put the phone into your pocked and headed upstairs, to your room to pack some things. Since you didn't know what you'd need for a sleepover, you opted to pack as if you were going to a trainings-camp, though you left out your gear. You couldn't be too wrong with two pairs of fresh underwear, socks and clean, casual clothes to wear for tomorrow and on Sunday, as well as stuff to shower with, right? At last, you put two of the films you definitely wanted to watch, on top of the things in your bag. All in all, it took you less than ten minutes, and you were back outside again, where Hinata and his mother had been waiting for you in their car. You put your bag next to you on the back seat and got in, explaining: "They agreed, but I have to be back here at around lunch time on Sunday at the latest." They didn't though, since you didn't talk to them, but Hinata-San needn't to know that, right? She nodded, not suspecting anything. "That's okay, I'll take you home then." And then she drove off to their home, Hinata chatting mindlessly about all the things you could do on the weekend and how awesome it was going to be. You felt a little nervous, though, even a little conscious about yourself. What if you messed up somehow? What if Hinatas father was against it and you had to walk back home again? What if, what if, what if -it circulated constantly in your mind, each question more ridiculous than the one before, until Hinata-San pulled up on the parking-slot of their home.

Notes:

So, I'm almost halfway into the next chapter already, and decided I might share this one with you now. I know there isn't much going on here, either, but as I said: I want to take it a little slower from now on, which is why this will be the pace of story-progress you'll have to be expecting for future-updates. Aside from that I hope you enjoyed the story so far and I would love to get some reviews from you awesome folks! Pretty please? :3

Love you lots!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The Hinata-household seemed to be a traditional, japanese house, as far as you could tell in the dark. There was a small yard in the front, complete with grass and trees and toys laying around, but you thought on the backside should be a bigger garden, with enough space for volleyball-practices and other stuff one could do in a garden. When Hinata-San opened the front door and she an Hinata went inside, you stopped at the entrance, a little unsure, though you tried not to show it. After a few seconds, you mumbled a polite: "Pardon my intrusion.", and stepped over the threshold, carefully mustering the unfamiliar household. It was clean, but it looked like people actually lived here, unlike your own home, where everything felt kind of sterile and not very personal. At your home, any special belongings where stored away, out of view for possible visitors, whereas the Hinatas showed them openly. There were photographs and pictures on the walls, little things were laying around on shelves and waist-high cupboards, and you could spot at least one toy in every room -and even more in the living room. It looked like Natsu had just been playing with them, though that wasn't possible, of course. Despite that, their home didn't look messy, but Hinata sheepishly scratched the back of his head, anyway. "It's nothing special, it's just our home.", he stated, noticing how you took everything in. His mother had left the both of you already, heading to the kitchen to prepare dinner. "I like it. It looks lived in.", you answered and looked around you once more, in order to find a place where you could put your bag. "Really? That's good, then! Come on! I'll show you my room! You can put your bag there!", the redhead smiled and you followed him through the house, trying to pay attention to his chatter -though not very effectively.

When he opened the door to his room, you were greeted with a small space that gave off the same feeling as the person that lived in there. It wasn't a big room, but it had just enough space to fit an extra futon, you noticed right away. Aside from that, the floor was cluttered with worn clothes, worn out volleyballs and other stuff, but it wasn't too much, so you were able to move without having to step onto things. On his desk you spotted several of the schoolbooks you needed and a notebook. "Sorry, it's kinda messy. Put your bag there", he instructed you, waving with his hand to a clean spot next to the door, "and then sit down somewhere, I'm gonna clean up." You raised an eyebrow at that, but did as you were told, taking a seat at his desk and watching him, after you had dropped your bag, while Hinata picked up his clothes -only to throw them messily into his wardrobe- kicked the volleyballs under his bed and shoved the clutter into a far away corner where it wouldn't bother anyone. "Okay, all done!", he cheered just minutes later, "We'll get the futon later, okay?" "Yeah, sure.", you nodded and watched him hop on his bed, where he sat down cross legged. "So? What movies did you bring?", he looked at you expectantly. "Well...", you shrugged and got up to walk over to your bag and retrieve the DVDs. "You heard of 'The Equalizer' before? It's said to be -" "What?! I heard about that! I wanted to see it in the theater, but I wasn't able to go back then! You really have it? We need to watch it!", Hinata cheered and bounced on his bed, just as you handed him the DVD. His eyes scanned the cover, then the back of it, taking in the different pictures that were shown from the film. When he was done, he looked at you again. "And the other one?" You handed him the second one without a word and sat back down again. "Oh, no way! You have that, too? Kageyama, you are awesome!" 'The Giver' was a not so popular film which came into theaters earlier this year and it surprised you, that Hinata knew of it and actually seemed to want to see it, too. "Yeah, I missed both of them when they came to the theaters, so I bought them when the DVDs were out. I didn't get to watch them yet, though." But you were a little surprised at the fact that Hinata was interested in films like these. Somehow, you hadn't taken him to be the type of guy to be interested in these kind of films at all. You didn't say so, though, and the two of you eventually started to wonder about what to do until dinner was ready. "Oh, I know! We could play a game! Come on!", the redhead grinned and hopped down from his bed, heading out of the room. Quickly, you followed him into the living room, where he dug around behind the TV and pulled up two controllers and his old Playstation 2. Seconds later, the starting screen of 'Need for Speed' could be seen on the families big TV. "You do know how to play a racing game, right?", he wanted to know, and you nodded. You hadn't played in a long while, but you were sure, with a little practise you wouldn't be too bad. "Great!", the redhead cheered and propped himself in front of the couch, where you had sat down. Needless to say, the first few rounds were won by Hinata -obviously he was more experienced with the controls than you were. But you were quick to learn and steadily gained on him, so the last run ended in a head-to-head race for the first place and you were shouting and yelling at each other to 'get out of the way, I'm winning this!', peppered with a much more than decent amount of insults in between. It was like always, really. The two of you were competing and bantering with each other and making a challenge out of everything you did. Luckily, you won that last round by a hair's breadth. Hinata sulked and pouted and muttered something about you being a cheater, while you pumped your fist in victory, just as his mother walked in and informed you with a smile on her face that dinner was ready.

Dinner was quite the lively affair, with Hinata chattering away to his mother and stuffing food in his mouth simultaneously. Neither of them seemed to mind that the head of the family wasn't eating with them, though there was a fourth dish set in front of the vacated seat on the head of the table. You were curious, of course, but since neither of them explained his absence, you just accepted it and opted to just listen to their conversation, though you tried to not look like you were paying too much attention and instead kept your eyes trained on the bowl of food in front of you. It tasted good, better than anything you could have made for yourself, really. You weren't a bad cook -years of spent alone weekends, burnt food and cut fingers had taught you at least the basics of cooking- but someone else's food always tasted better than your own, that was a fact. So you actually appreciated the food Hinata's mother provided you with a lot more than you would your own mother's. Not that she was a bad cook, but unlike Hinata-Sans meal, your mother's always kind of tasted bland, whereas the one you were eating right now tasted like it was made with great care and love. Not that you would actually say that out loud, though! You felt yourself become a little envious of Hinata. He could eat this delicious meals every day, that lucky dumbass! Not noticing it yourself, you actually glowered at him, which made the redhead squirm in his seat, when he noticed it. "What are you staring at me for? I didn't say anything wrong!", he declared passionately and you blinked, confused. "Huh?", you eventually wondered, looking back and forth between Hinata and his mother and clearly having no clue as to what was going on. "You looked like you were going to murder me just now, you know?", the redhead helped you get a clue and you shook your head no. "I'm not. I guess I was lost in thought?", you offered, trying to look at least a little bit sorry -even if you really weren't, but he didn't need to know that. At any rate, those words seemed to have eased his mind and he went back to eat and chat with his mother. He even tried to rope you into their conversation, but since you only gave reluctant, polite answers, he gave up on that soon after and you went back to just listen to them contently. This was so different from what you were used to, you had yet to figure out how to deal with this properly. Hinata-San seemed to know, though, since every now and then she sent you an encouraging smile and even asked if you would like to have a refill -which you couldn't ever say no to.

Later, when you and Hinata were back in his room and your futon was set up, the redhead was fidgeting yet again. He did that an awful lot today, it seemed to you. "Hey, what is with you today? You're even more fidgety than usual. What's going on?", you confronted him at last, when it became too much for you to put up with, and fixated him with your eyes. Instead of an answer, he only seemed to shuffle more in his seat on his bed. It didn't look like he wasn't wanting to tell you, though, so you just raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. It was obvious he had something on his mind, but didn't know how to word it. "Just spill it already!", you urged, when he had opened his mouth several times to say something but closed it again before the tiniest sound could have fled his lips. He actually yelped at that and jumped in his seat, glaring and you for a few seconds, before he settled back and tried to relax. "I don't know. I've been feeling jittery all day. It's as if I didn't exercise today, as if I didn't use up any of my energy at all. I'm practically overflowing with it.", he tried to explain, but you could see that he still wasn't quite content with his wording, as if there was something more to it, but he didn't know how to piece the words together. His face was scrunched together; his brows knit, his nose wrinkled and his mouth a more or less thin line, since he was biting his lower lip. "Jittery? How so?", you tried to get an explanation from him, but he just shrugged and shook his head no. "No idea, actually. I feel like that since I got up this morning.",he explained, a troubled look on his face. You sighed. "That's weird, I guess? Did anything happen yesterday? Has anyone said something to you that you can't let go?", you offered, but he shook his head yet again. "No, nothing happened. At least nothing I can think of right now.", he whined and let himself fall back on his back, an arm thrown over his face in frustration. "Ugh, this is just great! It's the first time in ages that I have a friend over and I just have to screw up, eh?", he groaned, obviously annoyed with himself. Now it was your turn to shake your head, since you had no clue whatsoever what people did on sleepovers, anyway. Anything was fine with you, really. "You didn't screw up. And if you have pent up energy, you just need to let it out. I don't mind going for a run, if that'll help you?", you offered. Of course, it was late and already dark outside, but the area where the Hinatas lived was a quiet neighbourhood, with houses that weren't particularly close to each other. You wouldn't bother other families, even if you'd get into another competition -fight- on your way. And the redhead knew the area, so he wouldn't get the two of you lost, either, right? "Really? You would come with me?", he perked up, sitting up again and looking at you expectantly with his big, bright, brown-golden eyes. "Why wouldn't I, dumbass?", you retorted and got up from your seat at his desk. "Okay! But we have to sneak out -I don't think my Mother would allow it, otherwise.", he grinned and you nodded. That was to be expected. So the two of you tiptoed your way outside, where you put on your shoes and Hinata pulled the door close, after he checked for his keys.

At first, both of you set a slow pace and you followed half a step behind the redhead, since you didn't know the area at all. Neither of you said anything and instead enjoyed the silent company of the other, while you jogged. "You know, I'm not gonna be able to sleep tonight at all. Again.", Hinata eventually revealed to you with a sideways glance in your general direction. "Huh?", is all you managed to answer, since he caught you a little off guard with that one. Lucky for you though, that the redhead kept talking when he noticed that you paid attention and listened to him. "Well, since you're here you can't play the piano tonight, right?", he explained. Right. You had been playing the piano for him every night, since he first called you and you had offered it to him. "But you recorded the one from yesterday. You can listen to that, right?", you huffed, still feeling a little put off at the thought that he recorded your playing without letting you know about it. "I know. It's just... It isn't the same, is it?", he tried to explain and eventually slowed down his pace to a fast walk. "How would I know? Just try it, damn it!", your grumbled and picked up your pace again, not wanting to walk, but to run and get him to exhaust himself so he would fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Sure enough, the redhead followed you on your heels as you sped up and ranted about how unfair it was for you to get a headstart. His misery of probably not being able to fall asleep later tonight was momentarily forgotten, as your run changed into an all-out competition for who would be the first one at the next corner of the dimly lit street you were currently jogging on.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

You had been running for over an hour, when Hinata finally turned to head back home. Both of you were panting and sweating, exhausted from your run, and you thought that maybe, maybe, you'd had succeeded in making the redhead tired enough to let him drop dead onto his bed after you had each taken a shower to wash away the sweat and dirt of the day. At his house, you sneaked back inside and hoped you'd get past the living room without being noticed. As it turned out, Hinata-San had fallen asleep in front of the still running TV, so you didn't have to be too quiet. In Hinatas room you grabbed your bag to head to the bathroom. -The redhead practically pushed you into it, since you were his guest and had the right to use the shower first.

You took your time and tried to leave the room as clean and in order as you had found it when you had first entered it. Now clad in grey, long, wide pants and a loosely fitting, white shirt, you trudged back to into Hinatas room, stifling a yawn. God, you were tired as hell! Hopefully, Hinata was, too. "Hey, I'm done now. You can go.", you informed him and dropped your bag back to its spot by the door. The redhead nodded groggily. Now that he'd had a little time to rest, his exhaustion actually seemed to have gotten to him. For which you were grateful. "Yeah, 'kay.", he mumbled and got up from his spot on his bed where he had plopped down previously. You on the other hand had sat down on your futon and attempted to lie down, just when Hinata turned as he arrived the door, eyeing you with an unidentifiable look. "Don't you dare fall asleep before I get back!", he warned you and you frowned at him. "Then hurry up, dumbass, or I will!", you shot back at him an pulled the covers over your tired body. "Fine, I will!", he retorted and then hurried into the bath.

Needless to say, he was back in the room not even ten minutes later, his hair still wet, skin damp and slightly flushed from the hot water he'd used. His sleeping attire seemed to be the same as yours, though his were different colours: His pants were a dark blue, his shirt a washed out yellow and his collar was worn out, loosely hanging off his shoulder and revealing his collarbones, which you couldn't help but notice. You hadn't lain down yet, knowing, if you did, you would have fallen asleep in an instant. "Great! You're still up!", Hinata grinned and switched off the light the next second. "Hey, dumbass! At least warn me beforehand before you turn off the lights!", you growled and yelped the next moment. The redhead had stepped on your outstretched legs. "Ouch! Watch it, damn it! Idiot Hinata!", you scolded him and tried to yank your legs away from under his feet, but that actually only made it worse. The redhead lost his balance and practically fell on top of you. Your scolding was stopped by Hinata hitting your heads together, though that probably wasn't intentional. It didn't stp you from cursing yet again, and the redhead groaned, surely rubbing his forehead to ease the pain away, while he still theoretically sat in your lap. He didn't seem to have noticed that yet, though. "Oi, dumbass, get off of me already! You're heavy!", you demanded, wriggling your legs around to get rid of the extra weight. "Wha- Oh! Sorry, Kageyama!", realisation finally hit him and he scrambled off of you, hopefully over to his bed and apologizing again and again, before he cussed. "That hurt! Did you know you had a head of stone? It's adamantine!", he groaned, while you heard the rustle of covers -apparently he had reached his bed and climbed in. "Well, so is yours, dumbass!", you retorted. Hinata made an unidentifiable noise at that -probably a sound of disagreement, but you didn't care. You wanted to sleep, so you lay down -finally- and pulled the blanket up to your ears. It wasn't exactly cold, but you were sure Hinata would toss and turn around in his bed for a while before he would fall asleep ultimately, and you didn't want to hear that. You knew it would keep you awake. "Good night, Bakageyama.", Hinata eventually mumbled, sounding at least a little tired. "Yeah, to you too.", you hoped, that this settled it and he would hopefully fall asleep, but you were wrong about that. Mere minutes later, the redhead started tossing and turning around, obviously not able to find a comfortable position to fall asleep in. "Idiot, stop moving around so much! I can't sleep!", you grumbled, but weren't really angry. He had predicted this might happen, so you had been able to be at least a little prepared for this. "But I can't sleep! I told you so!", Hinata whined and you turned around to face the direction of his bed. "I know! At least try to lie still, would you?", you shut him up and went on, "Besides, I thought you wanted to try listening to the record from yesterday? Why don't you do that?" Now it was Hinatas turn to grumble. "I know. I forgot, I guess. Wait, don't move, I'll go get my phone.", he huffed and another rustle of sheets followed. You didn't do as you were told, though, and instead pulled your legs up to your chest, in order to give him as little of a chance to step on you again as possible. Seconds later, the light was back on and you shielded your eyes with your arm against the sudden brightness. You could hear Hinata rummage through his bag for his phone, and not too soon after the light was out again, the room now only lit by the pale light the screen of Hinatas phone provided. Thankfully, he used the light to find his way back to his bed, so you didn't need to fear your your legs again. Surely, you'd have a few bruises by tomorrow. "Should I use headphones or do you want to listen, too?", he wanted to know and you shrugged. You didn't care either way, already more asleep than awake. "Do as you will, doesn't matter to me.", you explained and waited for his decision. "Okay, I won't use headphones, then. They are uncomfortable, anyway." Hinata nodded to his own words and tipped on his phone, until the recording of your playing from yesterday started to drift through the small room. It wasn't too loud, but not too soft, either, and sure enough, after a few minutes, Hinata stopped shifting and shuffling in his bed and quietly listened to it. You listened, too, though certainly not as long as Hinata would, since you were dead tired and would fall asleep any second now.

The next morning you weren't woken by the blaring of your alarm-clock, but by the soft clattering of pots and pans and for a moment you wondered who on earth would make breakfast this early in the morning. Then you remembered where you were and who it probably was, making breakfast. You sat up on your futon, yawned and turned to look over at Hinata. -Who was still sleeping and snoring lightly, all tangled up in his sheets. He must've tossed and turned a whole lot tonight, you thought to yourself and sighed. For a moment you wondered if you should get up already or if you should stay in bed and sleep a little longer. It was nice and cozy and warm in your futon, even if a little hard, but you forewent that idea in favour for a quick trip to the bathroom. With another sigh you got up, silently making your way over to the door, so to not wake up the redhead. He needed his sleep and should get as much as he could. Which is why you intended to let him wake up in his own time and instead planned to spend your morning helping Hinata-San making breakfast -as a way of thanking her for letting you stay over the whole weekend.

So, after your detour to the bathroom, you went over to the kitchen, where you found the brown haired woman, humming under her breath and cutting vegetables. "Good morning, Hinata-San.", you greeted her and she turned to smile at you warmly. "Good morning to you, too, Kageyama-Kun. Have you slept well?", she inquired and you nodded in confirmation. "Yes, thank you. Hinata is still sleeping, though.", you felt the need to inform her, and now it was her turn to nod. "I thought so. Else he would already be outside, spiking a volleyball against the wall." she chuckled, and you couldn't help but grin at that. Of course. What else would the redhead do? "Can I help you with something, Hinata-San?", you offered her, changing the subject and looking at all the ingredients she had gathered around her. "Oh, would you? That is so nice of you, Kageyama-Kun.", she smiled and then confirmed, "You can continue with the vegetables, then I can prepare the fish." You nodded at that, washed your hands in the sink and then took the kitchen knife to resume where she had left of. The two of you worked quietly, though when you were almost done preparing, the woman smiled at you again. "Thank you for your help, Kageyama-Kun. It's nice to see that a fine young man like you knows how to cook. My own son wouldn't be able to, yet. He only has room for volleyball in his head." "Of course, Hinata-San. I'm glad I could help.", you accepted her praise, though you blushed a little -you fought it down, though- and added, "Well, I have to be able to. My parents are away more often than not, so I learned a few thing by now. Though I'm not even half as good as you." "Is that so? If you want to, you can come over again on the weekends your parents aren't home. Shouyou would surely like to have company, and I can show you a few of my tricks, if you like?", she offered and you looked at her quite baffled. You wouldn't ever have thought she'd invite you over again. Well, not that you didn't behave yourself, but anyways. You didn't want to impose on them. "Thank you for your offer, Hinata-San. I will think about it.", you agreed, deciding to think of a proper answer later on.

Not too much later, you heard the stomping of feet, meaning that the redhead was finally awake. Just in time for breakfast, really. It wasn't even seconds after you thought that, that you could hear him shouting, "Mom! Is Kageyama with you?", just before he actually entered the kitchen, were you sat together with his mother. Hinata-San, not feeling the necessity of providing her son with an actual answer -he could see you sitting there just fine, after all- wished him a good morning, a loving smile on her lips. "Yeah, mornin', mom. -Why are you up already, Kageyama?! It's Saturday! You need to sleep in at least a little bit!", he frowned at you. "I don't know, I just couldn't sleep anymore, I guess?", you shrugged, not really caring for his opinion. "Tche. That's so lame! What did you do all this time, anyway?" Surprisingly, he assumed that you must've been awake for a while now -which was actually true, eeing as you woke up almost an hour ago and helped out Hinata-San. "Well... this and that.", you gave a vague answer, not really wanting to tell him what you did. You didn't want Hinata to believe you were sucking up to his mother. "'This and that?' What answer is that, Kageyama? What did you do?" Hinata was nothing if not persistent. "Why do you need to know? You have been sleeping like a baby at that time, so you don't need to know now!", you told him off, but the redhead just pouted and turned to his mother for help. "Mom! You tell me! What did the Bakageyama do while I was sleeping?" "Sorry, Shou-Chan. If he doesn't want to tell you, I won't either. It's his decision, anyway.", she helped you out. Hinata huffed and glared at you, but that wouldn't change your mind. "I won't tell you. If you want to know, maybe you should get up earlier next time?", you offered him. "Eh? But you probably won't do it, then, would you?!", he pondered. "Maybe, You'll just have to try and see.", you shrugged. When Hinata would be awake earlier, you were sure, you'd be doing something else entirely. It's not like you were embarrassed for your cooking abilities, but somehow, in the afterthought, you did feel a little awkward for helping his mother cook. You never did that for your mother. -Nat that she'd let you, anyway. She was just as stubborn as you, sometimes, but at least you knew which part of the family you got your stubbornness from. "What?! But that's unfair!", the redhead exclaimed, not able to believe what he just heard. "I never said I'd be fair.", you grinned smugly, knowing full well how that would piss the redhead off. "You're so mean! Why am I even friends with you?", he grumbled, temporarily giving up on trying to find out what you did earlier. Nonetheless, you still answered his question: "Because I toss to you all the time and can play the piano?" "Ugh, yeah. That must be it.", his face scrunched almost cutely, as you gave him that little reminder.

Hinata-San had listened to your little dispute silently, albeit with a twinkle in her eyes and a small smile on her lips -barely there for anyone to see- but now she interjected your bantering.

* * *

Notes:

Wohoo, another chapter done! I'm currently writing everything by hand and later transfer it to my laptop (which actually doubled my workload on this ^^"), since I wouldn't find the time to write otherwise. I'm writing in the breaks between work and on the bus trips to and from work, and I actually get things done, can you believe it? Chapter 12 is almost done, too -well, in my crappy handwriting, that is, I still need to transfer it to my laptop- and I hope you guys enjoyed it up until now. I know this chapter is mostly just boring stuff, but I felt like sharing some outside-of-school-like-thing from them, and I promise, there'll be a little more action in the upcoming chapter x3

_Also, please do write reviews and critiques or whatever you like you feel the need to get out of your system. I enjoy every little tidbit of feedback I can get will be endlessly thankful to each of you! :3_

Aside from that, I have taken up drawing again, and, what else would I draw if not these two idiots, picturing some of the moments I wrote of in this fic? ^^' would anyone like to see them?


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